VIEW YORK: The already-dazzling New York City skyline, including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, shimmers in 1936. (Jack Rosenzwieg)
NO SMOKING: Firefighters aboard a ladder truck battle a Brooklyn warehouse blaze in the 1950s.
HANDIWORK: Workers using hands and shov-els lay bricks as part of the paving of 28th Street in Manhattan in an Oct. 2, 1930, photo from the New York Municipal Archives.
A walk down New York’s memory lane is now just a mouse click away.
The city’s Municipal Archives yesterday rolled out a new online site that gives the public access to a treasure trove of 875,000 historic photos of the Big Apple, with some dating back to the mid-1800s.
There are snapshots of Yankee slugger Babe Ruth — chomping on a cigar and signing autographs for fans — and dozens of dramatic black-and- white photos of the city’s bridges under construction.
There also are decades’ worth of photos of the city’s once-bustling and industrial waterfront.
The online gallery was such a hit on its first day that the site crashed yesterday on nyc.gov, the city’s official Web site.
Aside from viewing the archives for free, consumers can also buy high- quality reprints.
“Using 21st century tools, we’re making New York City’s rich, vibrant past more accessible than ever before,” Mayor Bloomberg said.