From the Center for Brooklyn History: Our favorite image was from the Stay Cool at Brooklyn Pools story: the Grandma Bathing Beauty Contest. Some simple joy is what we all need right now! from Michelle Montalbano, Reference Librarian

From the Department of Records: My favorite image –the 1939 color transparency of our HQ, the Surrogate’s Court at 31 Chambers. It’s very unusual to have a color picture from that time period. from Ken Cobb, Assistant Commissioner

From Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts: Our favorite image we’ve run into this year is this corner of Second Avenue and 76th Street in the late 1930s. They show a very lively immigrant neighborhood, and the pushcarts relate to today’s Open Storefronts program. from Lara Secchin, Manager of Preservation and Outreach

From The Gotham Center for New York History selected by Jessica Georges, Programming Assistant

From Governors Island: After moving a couple months ago, Bowling Green is now where I get off the subway when going to the office. It's shocking to see how similar the area looks in photos from the end of the 19th century! from Clay Grable, Marketing Manager

From NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development: This one is easy: the 950 Sedgwick Avenue #thenandnow. Who among us hasn’t driven up the Deegan and wondered what the deal with this building is? The answer is as odd as anyone could’ve hoped for! from Jonathan Patkowski, Digital Communications Manager

From Madison Square Park Conservancy: On this story: "Alexander Hamilton had 13 sweet gum trees planted in honor of the 13 original states outside of his home, Hamilton Grange (seen here). Following the home’s most recent move to St. Nicholas Park, a new grove of 13 trees were planted." Is definitely my favorite fact that I have discovered through Urban Archive. from Jossue Velasquez, Park Manager

From Museum of the City of New York: I stumbled across these photographs in our collection portal, and I happen to have a bit of a soft spot for gnomes, so I thought the additional context/information here was interesting. I think it's so funny that something like this existed in NYC - it seems so out of place! from Tara Dawson, Digital Marketing Manager

From New York Transit Museum: The favorite fact that I learned this year is about the "Wishing Tree" which I never heard about before. I love learning new stories of my hometown! from Desiree Alden-Gonzalez, Collection Manager

From New-York Historical Society: I loved learning about the Hudson-Fulton Celebration and the electrification of NYC—hadn't known about that before. from Kerrie Mitchell, Content Editor

From New York Public Library selection by Andy McCarthy, Librarian II

From Public Design Commission: We’re loving the photograph of City Hall illuminated for the Hudson-Fulton celebration in 1909. Our agency staff has primarily been working from home since March and we’re missing our office on the third floor of City Hall! from Julianna Monjeau, Archivist & Senior Records Manager

From The Forward: This image of Borough Hall's subway stop, as part of the RBG/NYC story blew my mind with it's quotidian imagery that under the headline of RBG's Bklyn, just shimmered for me. It put me in mind of Cartier Bresson's 'decisive moment.' Here, the way that individual on the left hand side is caught in motion, coupled with the wide empty space of the rest of the image, added to the RBG memento mori tone of this piece describing her life. It also added to my sense of walking in another's footsteps, of their shadows remaining here with us, despite the loss of their physical presence in our lives here now. from Chana Pollack, Archivist

From Wildlife Conservation Society Archives: This one’s hard! There have been so many. I really liked the Buttermilk Channel one because I’ve long wondered about the name. I think that one that really stands out for me is the Camp Vacamas one by The Forward. I liked how it told the story of a Catskills camp through relevant NYC locations and loved the Pride of Judea Children’s Home photo. from Madeleine Thompson, Director of the Library and Archives

From Village Preservation: All the images of Wanamaker's, especially this one. from Louisa Winchell, Research and Preservation Associate