Usually the psychiatric facilities filed and hold the death certificates, not the municipalitities. I'm talking back to the early 1900s. These facilities came under the NYS institution umbrella and often individually claim "privacy" to requests for records, and even death certificates. Rockland State Psychiartic in Orangetown, NY held a death certificate hostage from one of my clients, a direct descendant, after multiple requests. The deceased worked for and had an obituary in the New York Times that stated he died at his Bronx, NY home. To circumvent the specific institutions, you an order death certificates for such NYS institutions directly from Albany, if they are more than fifty years old. the waiting list for NYS requests is about six months, unless someone files the application in person for you. Nancy Johnsen CURRAN is an excellent researcher in the Albany area and is acquires institutional death certificates, NYS prison records, and much more. Her homepage is : http://nancycurran.com/#home . Just click on the word "Contact" to email her your request. Barb Metro NYC Researcher =================