Living in a Metropolis (1949)

[Music] [Applause] New York city is located on the Atlantic coast of the United States at the mouth of the Hudson River here in the largest city in the world more than 9 million people live and work and play New York is a great Center of Transportation industry and trade such a city important to the life of a whole country is called a metropolis New York is a metropolis because it serves the needs of the entire United States one reason New York has become a metropolis is the fact that it has an excellent Harbor Port is the largest in the world New York is a natural gateway to the United [Music] States from New York naturaland routes lead Inland up the Hudson and Mohawk river valleys into the Great Lakes region and the Midwest besides being a natural Gateway into the interior of the country New York is also the Terminus of many other lines of Transportation as a result an immense volume of shipping passes in and out of New York goods from many parts of the country and from foreign lands are handled at the city's docks there is room for hundreds of vessels to load or unload their caros more Ships Come into this Harbor than to any other port in America railroads connecting New York with other parts of the country carry great quantities of freight and many passengers to and from the city New York is the easn Terminus of a great railroad Network that reaches all over North America passengers here arrive and depart for all parts of the United States and for Canada and Mexico as [Music] well Aviation has increased New York's importance as a Transportation Center near the city are three hugee airports these are busy day and night serving passenger and cargo airlines much of the air traffic going in and out of these air terminals is international from here one may buy a ticket for a flight around the world or fly overnight to London and Paris by plane it takes less than a day to South America [Music] flying over New York it is easy to understand why there are so many tall buildings on the small island of Manhattan here the only way that enough room can be made for business places and homes is to erect higher and higher buildings many of these are called skyscrapers the Metropolis of New York is actually made up of several large cities the most important of these cities within the city is the crowded island of Manhattan where 2 million people live another 3 million live elsewhere but have jobs in Manhattan and every day hundreds of thousands come to the city as visitors in a crowded Metropolis like New York people have difficulty in finding places to live Park Avenue the city's best known residential street is lined with tall apartment houses another section of Manhattan has the largest negro population of any community in the world this is Harlem in much of Harlem as in other parts of New York families live crowded together in tenement houses some sections of New York such as the one called Little ET seem almost like communities in a foreign land these neighborhoods were settled by immigrants who arrived in New York from countries in the old world others who came later found life in the new world less strange by living with those who could speak their own language in Chinatown most of the residents are people whose parents or grandparents came to the United States from the far away Orient many different races and nationalities make up the population of New York this Metropolis has been called a melting pot because sooner or later its people become Americans in some parts of the city worn out tenaments are being replaced by groups of modern skyscraper homes in these buildings hundreds of families have their own separate sets of rooms called housekeeping Apartments the crowded island of Manhattan is but one of the five divisions of New York City these divisions are called Burrows besides Manhattan there are the Bronx Queens Brooklyn and Richmond and for Miles beyond the activities of the people are so closely linked with New York that the entire area is is known as greater New York a New York family wishing to occupy a single house with even a small lawn or garden must live miles away from the business district communities surrounding the city are called suburbs although in the suburbs of New York homes are built close together families enjoy more freedom and are not troubled by the noise of the big city the transportation of the minions of people who go back and forth to Manhattan Island every working day is a tremendous problem people who do business in the city but live in the suburbs are called commuters a great many of these people make their daily trips by train during the morning and evening rush hours all means of transportation are crowded with passengers ferry boats run back and forth across the rivers and Bays that surround Manhattan Island most people who travel by ferry come from communities in New Jersey and in the burrow of Richmond before Bridges were built to link Manhattan with the mainland ferry boats were the only means of moving passengers and vehicles to the [Music] island today New York has the most elaborate rapid transit system of any city in the world [Music] because there is no longer room for tracks above ground trains go underground into Subways and tunnels as they approach the crowded areas of the city tunnels have been bored deep under the rivers and fast electric trains run on tracks laid beneath streets and buildings these underground Railways make it possible for New Yorkers to get about the city quickly moving stairs help passengers from the subway stations far below ground to the level of the streets because Manhattan is an island a great many bridges are needed so that Automobiles and trucks can go in and out of the city the George Washington Bridge spans the Hudson River and connects the highways of New Jersey with Express highways that run around the island of Manhattan New York's Express Highway is also connect with tunnels constructed just for motor traffic four great highways built under the river Rivers lead from various parts of the Island to New Jersey Brooklyn and Queens these tunnels are used by Passenger cars buses and by The Fleets of trucks which haul goods and supplies for the minions who live in the city tons and tons of food are needed every day for homes restaurants and hotels because the land on Manhattan Island is too valuable to be used for raising food everything in the markets comes from outside the city Farms as far away as Oregon California and Texas help feed the millions who live in the Metropolis because there is little space for storage in Manhattan Fresh Foods must be delivered to Big Central Markets every day during the early morning hours produce from all over the country is distributed to thousands of smaller markets grocery stores and restaurants at noon time streets are filled with lunch hour crowds throughout New York's business district there are restaurants to suit every every taste and every pocketbook automats are cafeterias where customers drop coins in a slot and in return obtain food quickly grouped around one short and Narrow Street at the lower end of Manhattan are many big Banks and investment firms the money that comes to Wall Street belongs to millions of people everywhere who have put their Savings in bank accounts insurance policies stocks and bonds these Financial companies provide much of the money needed to carry on business and to expand industry in the United States as well as abroad the to build skyscrapers comes from Wall Street firms that make a business of investing money for other people the Empire State Building cost many millions of dollars to build and is the tallest structure in the entire world this skyscraper is 102 stories from top to bottom it provides New York's crowded Midtown area with space for thousands of additional offices and shops yet it occupies less than one block of the city's valuable land the the Chrysler Building has 77 stories and like other skyscrapers provides headquarters for big businesses that have offices all over the country the group of tall buildings at Rockefeller Center is almost like another city within the Metropolis many of these buildings are occupied by radio and television Studios advertising agencies and insurance companies which serve the entire people like these earn their living by doing things which other people want instead of making things hundreds of people work for press associations upon which newspapers all over the country [Applause] depend but within the Metropolis of New York a great variety of goods is manufactured the largest industry is the making of all kinds of clothes from underwear to fur coats more than a third of all the clothing worn in the United States is made in Manhattan's Midtown garment Center this industry developed in New York chiefly because great numbers of garment workers came here from Europe [Applause] with them came dress designers and the city soon became a fashion center the manufacturer of a single garment may be done in several different workshops in this heavily congested District it is cheaper and faster to move clothing from one shop to another in hand carts today stores all over the country sell clothing patterned after Styles seen in Manhattan's most expensive shops New York like every Metropolis is a great trading center upper Fifth Avenue shopping district is the most fashionable in the country many new styles are first shown in Fifth Avenue stores [Music] [Applause] the window displays of shops along Fifth Avenue are one of the principal attractions for most visitors to New York many dealers import expensive merchandise from abroad While others specialize in fine americanmade products whatever the world makes to sell can be purchased in New York even the rarest of luxuries may find a buyer among the minions who shop in the [Music] city just as the Metropolis of New York is a center of Transportation industry and trade it is also a great cultural center of all its many museums and art galleries none is more famous than the Metropolitan Museum of Art almost every day classes from some public or private school visit the Metropolitan admission to the museum is free of charge a great many students attend art schools in New York in order to make use of the city's many museums The Collection owned by the Metropolitan is one of the largest in the world it is a National Treasure whose worth cannot be measured it is almost a miracle that in the very heart of crowded Manhattan Island an immense tract of land has been reserved for a public [Music] park The Men Who planned for New York's growth had great vision long ago they fora or the need for Central Park Manhattan's great outdoor playground where the city's minions now enjoy grassy spaces and the cool shade of trees [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] but minions of New York families live too far away from the city's parks and playgrounds to visit them every day the children whose homes are in crowded neighborhoods have no choice but to make playgrounds out of the streets on hot summer days an opened fire hydrant is the city child substitute for waiting in a cool Running Brook and for older boys the swimming hole is at the end of one of the city's hundreds of [Applause] peers con Island one of New York's largest beaches faces the Atlantic Ocean and is easily reached by subway trains throughout the summer months Coney Island is crowded with people seeking relief from the sweltering heat of the city at night the brightest reflection in the Skies over New York comes from Manhattan the biggest entertainment center in the world is the area around Time Square and Broadway the great white way within walking distance of Time Square there are hundreds of theaters stage plays and Motion Pictures here too are the Opera the ballet and concerts a metropolis is more than just one big city it is a city made up of many cities that serves not only its own people but also the nation it is a great Center of Transportation industry and trade where millions of people live and work and play for