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New York

New York
★ 7.5/10•1999•2h 0m•Documentary
Similars

A compelling portrait of the greatest and most complex of cities

This eight-part, 16½-hour television event explores New York City's rich history as the premier laboratory of modern life. A sweeping narrative covering nearly 400 years and 400 square miles, it reveals a complex and dynamic city that has played an unparalleled role in shaping the nation and reflecting its ideals.

Ric Burns · Writer

Ric Burns · Director

James Sanders · Writer

StatusEnded
Runtime2h 0m
LanguageEN
First Air DateNov 14, 1999

Episodes

Episode 1 - The Country and the City (1609–1825)E1120m

The Country and the City (1609–1825)

The series begins by identifying the key themes that shaped New York's history: commerce and capitalism, diversity and democracy, transformation and creativity. The episode charts the development of the city founded by the Dutch as a purely commercial enterprise, first as New Amsterdam, a freewheeling enclave of trade and opportunity; then as the British New York, a colony fueled by slavery which was bestowed as a birthday gift upon the Duke of York by his brother, King Charles; soon after as a strategically pivotal locale in the American Revolution; and ultimately as the city of New York: the nation's first capital and the place destined to define urban life in America -- and American ideals.

Nov 14, 1999

Episode 2 - Order and Disorder (1825–1865)E2120m

Order and Disorder (1825–1865)

Already established as America's premier port, New York City swelled into the nation's greatest industrial metropolis as a massive wave of German and Irish immigration turned the city into one of the world's most complex urban environments, bringing with it a host of new social problems. Episode Two reveals how the city's artists, innovators and leaders, from poet Walt Whitman to Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux (the designers of Central Park) grappled with the city's growing conflicts -- which culminated in the catastrophic Civil War Draft Riots of 1863.

Nov 15, 1999

Episode 3 - Sunshine and Shadow (1865–1898)E3120m

Sunshine and Shadow (1865–1898)

Now the spotlight shines on the growth, glamour and grief of New York during America's giddy postwar "Gilded Age." Exploring the incomparable wealth of the robber barons and the unabashed corruption of political leaders, such as Tammany Hall boss William M. Tweed, the episode examines the era when the expansion of wealth and poverty -- and the schism between them -- built to a crescendo. The program ends as the city itself dramatically expands its boundaries, annexing Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island into a single massive metropolis -- Greater New York.

Nov 16, 1999

Episode 4 - The Power and the People (1898–1918)E4120m

The Power and the People (1898–1918)

As New York spilled into the new century, the extraordinary interplay of capitalism, democracy and transformation surged to a climax. During a single generation, over 10 million immigrants arrived in New York. The city itself became an even more dramatic lure with the construction of the first subways and skyscrapers. And arising from the plight of New York's most exploited citizens came landmark legislation that would eventually transform the lives of all Americans.

Nov 17, 1999

Episode 5 - Cosmopolis (1919–1931)E5120m

Cosmopolis (1919–1931)

In this short but dazzling period, New York became the focal point of an extraordinary array of human and cultural energies, reaching its highest levels of urban excitement and glamour. In just over a decade, New York gave birth to its signature skyscrapers, the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings, and to artistic creations like F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY, George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," and to the jazz compositions of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Along the way, Harlem emerged as the undisputed capital of the African- American experience and the new media industries of advertising, radio networks, public relations, and magazines found their homes in midtown Manhattan.

Nov 18, 1999

Episode 6 - City of Tomorrow (1929–1941)E6120m

City of Tomorrow (1929–1941)

In little more than ten years, immense new forces were unleashed in New York, from the Depression itself to the New Deal, which permanently altered the city and the country. Along the way, two of the most remarkable New Yorkers of all time came to the fore: Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and master builder Robert Moses, both of whom attempted to create, in the darkest of times, a bold new city of the future. The episode examines their careers in detail, as well as the immense public works that transformed the city in the '30s. Also explored are the demise of Mayor Jimmy Walker, the coming of the New Deal, the fate of Harlem during the Depression, and the increasingly complex impact of the automobile on the city.

Sep 30, 2001

Episode 7 - The City and the World (1945–2000)E7120m

The City and the World (1945–2000)

In exploring the social, economic and physical forces that swept through the city in the post-war period, Episode Seven examines the great African-American migration and Puerto Rican immigration of the '40s, '50s, and '60s; the beginnings of white flight and suburbanization; and the massive physical changes wrought by highways and urban renewal -- all of which were directed, to a surprising degree, by one man: Robert Moses. The film comes to a climax with the destruction of Penn Station, the battle over the Lower Manhattan Expressway, the social and fiscal crises of the '60s and '70s, and New York's miraculous revival in the last quarter-century.

Oct 1, 2001

Episode 8 - The Center of the World (1946–2003)E8120m

The Center of the World (1946–2003)

Examines the rise and fall of the World Trade Center -- from its conception in the post-World War II economic boom, through its controversial construction in the 1960s and 1970s, to its tragic demise in the fall of 2001 and extraordinary response of the city in its aftermath.

Sep 8, 2003

Episode 9 - Shadows of the Past (1965-2001)E9114m

Shadows of the Past (1965-2001)

Trace New York’s turbulent decline and rebirth in the last decades of the 20th century.

Sep 21, 2026

Episode 10 - The Future of Cities (2001-2026)E10115m

The Future of Cities (2001-2026)

Follow New York's transformation since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Sep 22, 2026

Actors

David Ogden Stiers

David Ogden Stiers

Narrator

Kenneth Jackson

Self - Commentator

Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace

Self - Commentator

John Steele Gordon

Self - Commentator

Robert A.M. Stern

Self - Commentator

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