Such a frustrating disappointment

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I like New York. I think it is a fascinating city, one of the earliest skyscraper cities of the West, one of the most cosmopolitan and dynamic places, and I don't really care about the slow pace of the documentary, but really, to tolerate the sheer number of ludicrous statements in every chapter is too much for me. Whatever the subject, be it the amount of immigrants, the speed of construction, even the metro system, everything is in superlative. Hearing those 'historians' speaking about New York one might think there has never been urban history outside of it. It is always the best, the most, the densest, unheard of, unparalleled and etc. I mean, there are many valid points to make, as New York was a kind of first vertical metropolis of the West but the constant gratuitous exaggeration of everything annoyed the hell out of me. In episode 4 I hear one of the historians saying that those immigrants from Russia where (I am paraphrasing) nothing has changed much from the medieval times suddenly found themselves in the most modern city on Earth. Really? I mean, Russia wasn't the most advanced state in the end of the XIXth century, but it was still one of the biggest empires and Saint-Petersburg was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Or when they say that the density of population of East Harlem was the biggest ever seen in the history of humanity. Wow, why not in the history of the universe? Why be so modest? These constant exaggerations really spoils what is otherwise an interesting deep insight into the urban history of the Western immigrant culture.

This epic documentary from Ric Burns covers all of the major events and people that have shaped the culture and rich history of the City of New York. It does, in episodes 6 and 7 go past 1931 (Episode 6 is 1929-1941 and Episode 7 is 1945-Present). All of the historians, writers and others that provide commentary for the film are wonderful and insightful, although they sometimes become repetitive. This is rare, however, and the great stills (and later film) carries the story along from its humble Dutch beginnings in 1609 all the way to the present day. New York is like nowhere else in the world; it is an entity unto itself. But, as F. Scott Fitzgerald notes, it is just a city and not a universe. But what a city. David Ogden Stiers does an incredible job narrating what is, in my humble opinion, the singular film about the history of New York.

As a native New Yorker, i really found this documentary on New York very interesting. Ken burns did very good work on the "Jazz" documentary, and I found this on PBS one Saturday. I was very interested on how New York would be portrayed, and it was portrayed kust like it is, a wonderful city with a long history. "New York" is not to be missed by any New Yorker or anyone interested in New York.A

This is a wonderful documentary. My only regret is that it stopped in 1931. So many things have happened since that I would like to have seen covered: Robert Moses' public works, effects of World War II and the Korean War, the explosion of air travel and the development of LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. There's been much history in the 70 years since 1931. A great piece of work, though.