I called the Dunkirk City Hall to inquire about genealogy research of birth, death and marriage records and was told that all records are confidential and are not open to the public. An individual may request a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate if they are a family member AND if the record is at least 50 years old. Nothing earlier will be released unless you are the person in question and you must produce a proper ID. If you are requesting a copy of a record and you fit the above criteria, you MUST provide the exact year to be searched. Records are filed by year, not by name. Then, if you should be lucky enough to know the exact year, there is a $22.00 non-refundable charge for each record. Is there any way around this? Has anyone encountered this before? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am doing this research for a friend who cannot travel back to NY.