As many of us know, the NYC Municipal Archives charges about $15 for a certified stamped copy of a birth, marriage or death certificate, even if you go down to their office and find it yourself on their microfilm. I just care about the information and don't care about the certification. So taking a picture of the image on the microfilm reader screen would be fine for me. I called them and they said it was not allowed. Has anyone ever actually tried this in person? Any thoughts as to whether they can legally prohibit taking a picture of a public record?
