New York - The Wonder City (1946)

[Music] New York's impressive skyline stands out majestically in the shadow of Miss Liberty, who holds high her torch of welcome. This statue was presented to the United States by France in 1884. From the deck of a giant ocean liner, visitors get their first close-up of the city's downtown skyscrapers, which start at Broadway and Bowling Green near the southerly tip of Manhattan Island. Along lower Broadway, celebrity typical New York welcome. Wall Street, a man-made canyon in the heart of New York's financial district. At the far end is old Trinity Church, one of the oldest landmarks on the island. The original church was built in 1697 and replaced by the present structure in 1846. Graves still stand in tribute to some of the earliest settlers. [Music] At Broad and Wall, is the imposing Stock Exchange, the financial pulse of America, where ticker tape measures the fluctuating fortunes of the nation. Dominating New York City Hall is the Municipal Building, an imposing modern structure. City Hall is what holds New York. Spanning the East River from lower New York to Brooklyn, is Brooklyn Bridge, the oldest and most famous of the city's many bridges. The Bowery, famous in song and story, now a dingy street of cheap lodging houses and questionable eating places. On the Lower East Side, the pushcart market still survives amidst much price cutting. Nearby is Chinatown, and Mott Street is its Broadway. The surroundings are exotic and mysterious. Thousands of Orientals live here in their own peculiar way. On ceremonial occasions, there is much noise and weird dancing. Here the East meets the West, and holds closely to its native customs and exhibitions. [Music] Washington Square marks the beginning of Fifth Avenue. Near the Centennial Arch is a huge fountain, that not only serves as a thing of beauty, but as a happy relief for city youngsters on a torrid day. A short distance away is MacDougal Alley in the heart of Greenwich Village, where artists good and indifferent live and work, and where many have street exhibits of their artistry, hoping to find a ready purchaser. The Church of the Transfiguration, lovingly known as the Little Church Around the Corner, is famous for its romantic weddings. It is a shrine dear to the people of the stage. One of the city's colossal gateways is the Pennsylvania Station. Through it daily pass travelers from every state in the Union, a monument to the vision of a great railroad. On the site of the old Waldorf Astoria Hotel, now stands the Empire State Building, the tallest structure in the world, 102 stories high. Its gigantic tower dominates the city and can be seen from nearly everywhere. Another midtown skyscraper is the Chrysler Building with its flashing silver spire. New York's famous crossroads, and one of the busiest, a smart shopping center where thousands pass daily. Autos, taxis, and buses move in an unending stream. Here stands the Public Library, with 3 and 1/2 million volumes within its massive walls. Its friendly pigeons never want for food. A great fountain of knowledge in a great metropolis. In the very heart of New York City stands St. Patrick's Cathedral, one of the most beautiful churches on this continent. Each year, the Easter parade brings out much finery and startling millinery, and some unusual participants. On this occasion, motor traffic gives way to the milling paraders. Directly opposite the great cathedral and towering above it is Rockefeller Center, a city within a city, 15 acres of mighty white buildings reaching to the sky. In the spring, the terraced plazas with their fountains and magnificent flowers are a thing of beauty never to be forgotten. 150,000 people pass through the portals of these buildings daily, and atop the Radio City Music Hall, rehearsals sometimes stop the work in offices nearby. From October to April, there is ice skating in the sunken plaza in the very center of this great project. Park Avenue, street of wealth, social prestige, and ultra-smart shops. Best viewed from the deck of a sightseeing steamer, is one of New York's latest developments, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive along the East River. It runs almost the entire length of the island. When winter comes, Central Park takes on a cloak of white, reminiscent of the frozen pond back home. There is fine skating and ofttimes organized winter sport contests. Springtime unfolds a garden in the city's heart. Its four sides lined with stately buildings set in a tapestry of green. The obelisk, popularly known as Cleopatra's Needle, brings to Central Park a reminder of old Egypt. Here is a paradise for candid camera fans, especially at the zoo, where there is never a lack of models. The polar bears, transplanted from their frozen north, seem quite at home. [Music] Facing Central Park West is the Museum of Natural History, where mounted animals and birds of past and present are framed amidst scenes typical of their natural habitats. It is one of the city's most interesting showplaces. To the west, along the Hudson River, runs the West Side Highway, a thoroughfare of beauty running the entire length of Manhattan Island. It is studded with many famous monuments and buildings. Prominent among them is the tomb of General Grant, which is open to the public daily. [Music] Riverside Church is famous for its great carillon, the largest in the world, with its 72 melodious bells high in the tower. Harlem, a large section in the northern part of the city. Here lives most of the colored population, not always prosperous, but seemingly always happy. Harlem, land of swing and jive, where the world learns how to sing and dance. Graceful, yet imposing, is George Washington Bridge. Spanning the Hudson River from upper New York, it leads to the New Jersey shore and the west beyond. But New York is not only steel and stone, it is people, too. Millions of beating hearts, lights and shadows, night and day, a strange cosmopolitan paradox, a city that never sleeps. Its spinning tempo carries on into the dawn. New York, the wonder city.