New York: A Documentary Film—The Future of Cities
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Two new episodes of New York: A Documentary Film—carrying the ten-part series into the 21st century—present a vivid, compelling and moving portrait of New York’s evolution and transformation over the last half-century.
Written by James Sanders and Ric Burns and directed by Burns, the new episodes, presented together under the title The Future of Cities, chronicle the story of New York from the last decades of the 20th century through the first quarter of the 21st. Each episode offers its own self-contained narrative, but combined they provide a sweeping two-part portrait of America’s largest city across more than fifty years of challenge, growth, and change.
Episode 9: Shadows of the Past, explores the forces that shaped the city in the second half of the 20th century, as New York plunged into the most threatening period of decline and disorder in its history—only to rise again, thanks to a stunning drop in crime, to regain its place at the vanguard of world cities. The episode concludes in the summer of 2001, with New York, now remarkably safe and secure, unaware that a new threat from beyond its borders would soon threaten to undo all the progress of the previous decade.
Episode 10: The Future of Cities, opens just after 9/11, and follows New York’s efforts to recover under the new and untested mayoralty of Michael R. Bloomberg. Through rare archival footage and compelling interviews, the episode traces an epic story of challenge and resilience: the aftermath of 9/11, the financial crisis of 2008, Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Yet defying the doomsayers, the city also rebuilt itself in these years on a dramatic scale—economically, physically, and demographically—thanks to an astonishing influx of newcomers from around the world.
More than two dozen figures appear in the new episodes, including leaders in government, academia and journalism, who share personal insight on key moments from their unique perspectives. Four former New York City mayors appear, including David Dinkins, Michael R. Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio, and Eric Adams. Additional voices include The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik, Columbia University Professor Kenneth T. Jackson, The New York Times’ Michael Kimmelman, Wesley Morris, and Dodai Stewart, New York magazine’s Justin Davidson, Fordham University Professor Christina Greer, PBS journalist Ray Suarez, New York University Professor Suketu Mehta, and New York Times columnist and a co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Both episodes are presented in high-definition 4K video and sound, combining original cinematography, archival footage, and still photography with an original score by Emmy Award-winning composer Brian Keane and narration by Tony Award-winning actor Robert Sean Leonard. A revised edition of the series’ bestselling companion volume, New York: An Illustrated History, published by Alfred A. Knopf, features two new chapters corresponding to the new episodes, along with contributions by Adam Gopnik, Ester Fuchs, and Suketu Mehta, all of whom appear in the new films.