Story of a City New York, The (1947)

[Music] this is New York a miracle city a city of tall buildings narrow dark streets magnificent Parks broad Aven V homes and schools stores and theaters and palatial hotels a fascinating City an incredible City the commercial Financial trading and cultural heart of a great nation the United States of America to many of the world's peoples New York City and the United States are one and the same its skyscrapers traffic filed thoroughfares and crowded sidewalks are thought of as typically American a monument to our nation's Restless energy to our passion for things big and great for New York is both a big city and a great City the largest city of the Western Hemisphere second largest in the world it is home to almost 8 million people and to millions of Americans it has become the symbol of our country what is the story behind New York why is New York once a Little Dutch settlement the great City it is today there are many answers to those questions and one of the most important important lies in the city's location on that day in the year 1626 when the Agents of the Dutch West Indian company paid the Manhattan Indians $24 for the island now named for them they did so mainly for commercial reasons even then the advantages of the small trading post's geographical position were apparent it commanded the outlet of a Broad River the Hudson navigable for many miles Inland it boasted a superb Harbor sheltered deep water Bays affording safe Anchorage for the largest ships it stood asde an obvious route of trade that would someday connect the new world with the old and the most densely populated areas of North America with both Central and South America and it dominated a back country of vast potential wealth in the short 300 years of its history New York City has more than fulfilled the wildest expectations of its Founders today the city comprises five districts or Burrows the island of Manhattan Remains the nucleus and center of interest of Greater New York heart of the city's commercial and financial business the Bronx some sometimes called the burrow of Industries lies on the mainland to the north and east across the river from Manhattan lies the burrow Brooklyn which in turn is flanked by the burrow of Queens both of these Burrows are on the southern end of Long Island and are for the most part residential in New York Ark Bay located near the New Jersey Shore is Staten Island which is known as the burrow of Richmond the least populated of the five burrows Richmond forms a connecting Link in the Overland motor routes leading from New York City to the Western United States between Staten Island and Manhattan ferry boats ply all day long carrying passengers automobiles trucks and bulk Freight from the deck of one of these boats one may catch a glimpse of the great Statue of Liberty a figure that has stirred the emotions of countless immigrants to our Shores here in New York's Harbor dock the ships of the world This Magnificent water gate open the year round deep enough for the largest vessels and spacious enough to hold the entire United States Navy without obstructing normal traffic has been of great importance to our entire National economy without this natural Advantage New York itself would never have advanced to its present position for waterbor Commerce has contributed much to the growth of the City by every measure the port of New York is the biggest and busiest in the world it is estimated that any six of the other leading ports of the globe could be placed within it and yet leave room to spare its oceangoing craft touch about 90% of all foreign ports bringing practically all of the silk Goods Furs cotton and linen manufacturers jewelry gems chemicals coffee sugar and cocoa sent to this country over 5,000 foreign ships dock here each year about one every half hour of each day carrying almost half the entire foreign trade of the United States the majority of the nation's important railroads as well as its major Truck Lines enter the port in some manner here they load and unload every conceivable kind of freight the freight cars alone entering and leaving the area each year could fill eight tracks across the continent from coast to coast in keeping with its position as the leading commercial city of the United States New York is also the financial center of our nation Wall Street and other streets of the financial district are deep narrow Canyons of tall buildings the homes of the country's great banking houses the Continental Bank the Banker's Trust Company branches and agencies of foreign banks on Pine Street is one of the two largest banking institutions in the United States the chase National Bank but it is the New York Stock Exchange on Broad Street America's greatest Securities Market that perhaps typifies the business of the Wall Street District on the floor of the exchange's Great Hall stocks and bonds are bought and sold over a million phone calls a day are handled here and each transaction is carefully recorded to be communicated by Telegraph radio and cable all over the world but Commerce and finance are not the only occupations of New Yorkers the city is a busy manufacturing area and the leading wholesale and Retail trade and Export Center in the nation New York's clothing business the city's leading industry and fourth largest in the United States crowds the center of Manhattan here are produced three out of four of the ready-made coats and dresses and four out of five of the fur garments worn by American women the streets here are packed with trucks while through narrow traffic holes push Boys Guide hand trucks of metal pipe with clothing swaying from their racks clothing that is born by millions of Americans with more theaters schools libraries and museums in any other American city New York must be ranked as our nation's cultural leader the Metropolitan Museum of Art perhaps the greatest Center of classical art and learning in America exerts an influence that is worldwide while the Museum of Modern Art exhibits displays of modern painting sculpture and photography and is the repository of a unique and valuable Motion Picture collection yet for all its imposing size and activity New York is a city of people and it is the city's people that make it great here in New York live people of over 60 different National Origins more Germans than there are in Breman more Irish than there are in Dublin more Italians than there are in Genoa here they live together work together play and go to school together in the tall apartment houses that line Manhattan's Park Avenue live many of New York's wealthier residents one of the broadest of New York's thoroughfares it is the main artery of its locality it is constantly filled with non-commercial traffic buses DRS and trucks are limited to traveling but two blocks in One Direction in order to make delivery of goods possible the street itself is supported by gigantic steel stilts above a two-story railroad yard leading to one of New York's major rail terminals the Grand Central Station the burrow of Queens occupying part of Long Island is perhaps typical of New York's residential areas across the East River from Manhattan it is reached by a number of bridges and tunnels among them the 50 Street or Queen's burrow bridge and the Queen's Midtown vehicular tunnel morning and evening as the residents of Queens commute to and from their offices stores and places of employment in Manhattan these arteries of travel are crowded with traffic in addition to private means of transportation the city of New York has interb and Interurban bus lines plying its streets while underground a municipally operated electrical Railway system spreads through four of the five burrows with the trains leaving the Subways in some areas to travel over the streets on giant steel elevated structures the people of New York May travel mile after mile on this integrated system on either local or Express trains for only 5 cents for each trip by far the greatest numbers of New Yorkers travel to and from work by means of the Subways the elevated and the bus lines in the burrow of Queens the homes of the New Yorkers may vary in size shape and type of construction they may be single homes or apartment buildings but regardless of type they are much like the homes of people living in the residential suburbs of any other large American city here one may see the same familiar supermarkets and the same familiar neighborhood schools and the same familiar Milt truck and on certain days of the week even the same familiar family wash lines that one sees in countless cities across our nation but New York again like any modern commercial and industrial city has its less attractive areas Manhattan's Lower East Side has been traditionally the district where live the poorer people as well as the newly arrived immigrants the human story of the Lower East Side is a familiar chapter in The Epic of America here have lived the people whose hands built the city's Subways its bridges and its skyscrapers its tenaments and crowded streets magnify all the problems of big city life yet not all of the district is blighted for from its dark tenaments have come generations of American workers men and women of many different National Origins who have given their lives to the building of America and from it too there have emerged an amazing number of national figures great Statesmen like Alfred E Smith onetime governor of New York State Joe Davidson Jacob Epstein sculptors of international reputation George Gershwin and Irving Berlin composers whose songs all Americans sing housed in this historic imposing building is the executive branch of New York City's government like any other City New York has its elected and appointed officials charged with protecting the persons and property of the city near the city hall is located one of the most elaborate groups of Civic buildings to be seen in any city outside of Washington DC the mun ipal building one of the group is a magnificent structure 40 stories high in these numerous buildings are located the headquarters of the various branches of city government the efficient fire department its men trained to protect life and property in the world's highest buildings its World Fame Police Department whose members are numbered in the thousands its Public Utilities of gas water electricity and Central Steam for heating buildings the largest Municipal health and hospital system in the world and its remarkable Department of Sanitation which is responsible for the disposal of refu and waste the cleaning of streets and the removal of snow with its tremendous Fleet of motorized equipment but the greatness of New York is perhaps most spectacularly seen in its buildings for here on the island of Manhattan is the most impressive concentration of stone and steel masonry the world has ever known the vast number of people who have crowded into this District have made for a scarcity of land and a consequent high value of whatever land has been available while other cities have spread outward New York has been forced to build upward from the bay the skyline of commercial New York lower and Midtown is an extraordinary spectacle and the effects of hundreds of towering buildings crowded together along the narrow island is one never to be forgotten tall as of New York structures and the tallest in the world is the amazing Empire State Building it rears its 103 story head 1,250 ft over the sidewalks below it has 7 miles of elevator shafts and 73 elevators which travel so fast that a passenger entering one at the street floor May reach the 80th floor exactly one 1 minute later one of the most famous hotels in the world is the Waldorf atoria 80% of the building is over the tracks of the New York Central and the New Haven railroads and private railroad cars carrying guests of the hotel may be shunted to a special entrance located in the sub basements 47 stories high and containing 2200 rooms the Walo ptor hotel has been called New York's unofficial Palace Rockefeller Center a group of buildings occupying Three City Blocks is the largest building project ever undertaken at one time by private Capital it is a self-contained City with business offices centers of international Commerce theaters and its own post office the central RCA building is in area the largest office building in the world and so large is Rockefeller Center itself that its estimated daily population is over 150,000 people from the one room Log Cabin of a Dutch Trader to the multi-story buildings of Midtown Manhattan that is the story of New York a fabulous City a fascinating City New York is a great City for many reasons its strategic geographic location its tremendous Harbor flanked by Marine Highway air and railroad tributary have made the city one of the world's greatest Transportation centers the commercial capital and the international trading capital of the United States here too is concentrated much of the banking wealth of our country for the city is the financial center of the wealthiest of the world's Nations it is supreme among our cities in the volume of its retail trade which is diverse in interests and in the character of Commodities the raw materials for which are drawn from the far reaches of the world sometimes only to be fabricated and subsequently redistributed in new form in diverse directions likewise New York's wholesale trade calls upon all parts of America and the world for supplies eggs from the middle west citrus fruit from Florida and California vegetables from the south and New England to feed the people of New York and the people of other countries it is one of the greatest Manufacturing and processing areas of the nation the nation's foremost center of culture a city of museums and a city possessing hundreds of Acres of public parks for the rest relaxation and health of its millions of residents and thousands of annual visitors best known is Central Park in the burough of Manhattan with its Zoo its playgrounds miles of shaded walks and drives and its restful Lakes New York with the most complex Municipal School System in the world with churches of every denomination with homes of variated pattern ranging block by block along miles of streets Avenues and boulevards with multi-storied hotels to welcome business visitors and tourists its tall buildings housing International and National communication systems it's thousands upon thousands of young people who tomorrow like their parents before them will continue to create a great story the story of a great city the city of New York la