This episode delves into the vibrant yet tumultuous period of New York during America's exuberant postwar "Gilded Age." It highlights the immense fortunes amassed by the robber barons alongside the blatant corruption of political figures like Tammany Hall's William M. Tweed. The narrative captures the growing divide between extreme wealth and deep poverty, reaching a significant peak. Concluding with a momentous transformation, the city extends its borders by incorporating Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, forging a vast metropolis known as Greater New York.
Show
New York: A Documentary Film
Episode
S01E03
Air Date
Nov 16, 1999
Season 1 Episodes
S01E01
Invasion Of The Land
S01E01
The Country and the City (1609–1825)
S01E02
Taking to the Air
S01E02
Order and Disorder (1825–1865)
S01E03
The Silk Spinners
S01E03
Sunshine and Shadow (1865–1898)
S01E04
Intimate Relations
S01E04
The Power and the People (1898–1918)
S01E05
Supersocieties
S01E05
Cosmopolis (1919–1931)
S01E06
City of Tomorrow (1929–1941)
S01E07
The City and the World (1945–2000)
S01E08
The Center of the World (1946–2003)