NYC digital archive overwhelmed by clicks

The New York City Department of Records recently released over 800,000 pictures of old New York online and the Internet has gone wild. There were so many visitors to the government site today that it shut down entirely, according to The Atlantic. The online gallery (which we never got to see) allegedly provides free and open research access to items digitized from the Municipal Archives’ collections, including photographs, maps, motion-pictures and audio recordings.

Looks like historians have learned how to use technology. Here’s an historic video of Queens trolley traffic in the time before the Long Island Expressway. It’s narrated by a man who sounds oddly like Elmer Fudd.