Inside the New York ‘time machine’ racing to save a century of sound and film

“I tell my kids I work in a time machine,” said Rhony Dostaly. In a basement beneath Lincoln Center, the media preservation engineer rescues moments from the past. “I go back in time, and I grab elements, and I make them available for people today.”He and his colleagues at the New York Public Library (NYPL) are working against the clock to preserve the contents of film, tape, discs and cylinders that hold more than a century of sound and moving images. The records are decaying, and the machines that can play them are disappearing.UN News/Evgeniya KleshchevaRhony Dostaly, Media Preservation Engineer.Learning from the pastFor Mr. Dostaly, it’s not just about technology. He has watched other people’s lives unfold through the archive. Harry Belafonte, the legendary American singer, actor, civil rights activist – and longtime UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador – filmed his family for decades, from teaching his son to ride a bike in Central Park to trips abroad. “I’ve actually seen his kids from toddlers all the way to adults,” Mr. Dostaly said.© UNICEF/Mariella FurrerUNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Harry Belafonte visits Nairobi, Kenya in 2004.Films of the African American civil rights leader Malcol...