A New York artist stumbled upon centuries of complaints about happenings in the city. He thought the voices in the letters should be heard so he created The New York City Museum of Complaint.

While doing historical research Matthew Bakkom found that the city archived 300 years worth of complaints. He decided to compile the ones that had "a genuine voice of their own" and produce a tabloid newspaper featuring complaints from 1751 to 1973. The 31-letter tabloid is being distributed in city parks.

Bakkom said, "It just seemed to me something very vital and very original and very striking. Some of them are on the verge of paranoia, others are on the verge of genius."

Bakkom's favorite is a letter from a woman from London written in 1949, asking the mayor to find her an American husband. Bakkom said the letter made its way to the press and the woman got a few responses from men in the city.

Bakkom said, "I tried to find letters that had a genuine voice of their own somehow. It's a bit like being a DJ, I suppose."

Other letters were about things like reporting a case of small pox in the city stopping people from attending the market or political scandals and money.