Rating: 
Summary: More justice. Better as the DVD version
Review: The Burns family has come up with some fine work, from Baseball, to the Civil War; and now the latest, New York. A fine successor.
Ric Burns explores the early history of New York, starting with the God-created attributes of the region and one of the world's finest natural seaports. But the treasure is found in what man has added to the Apple, starting with the Erie Canal, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Subway system. The Bridge's history has itself been the subject of much scholarship, and Burns does it well also. The creation of the skyline, including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are some of the series best moments, filled with some of the fascinating type of information that fans of Burns' documentaries have come to expect and enjoy. The history of New York is the history of immigrants, and the interaction of Irish, Italians, Africans and other groups is splendidly examined. The politics of the City, such as the rise and demise of Al Smith and Jimmy Walker are well explored also. My few complaints are minor, and don't detract from the work. F. Scott Fitzgerald seems to have become a demi-god to Burns, and after awhile, I found the continued references to him and his
work tiring. More than a few minutes on the early history of Harlem would have been a welcome replacement. I purchased the DVD version, although I had the videocassettes. Am I glad I did! It has two additional discs, which try to bring the series up to date. Fiorello LaGuardia and Robert Moses, the two most pivotal figures in the history of the City, are splendidly explored. More examination of the development and contribution of Harlem (which I lamented in the review of the VHS version) is also welcomed. New York's post W.W. II predominance as the true center of the Earth is made plain. As the series progresses, we see the value of the City (any city), the destruction of the great and old in the name of urban renewal, and the slow cancer of suburban sprawl. Even those not from New York will find it to be a rich, interesting history, worth of the length of time one must devote to its viewing. The rest of the world will understand some of why New Yorkers love their home as they do. Those expatriate New Yorkers will be tugged to head back home. All in all, brilliant, brilliant work.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Burns -- for Better and Worse
Review: The style and structure of this documentary is nearly identical to that used by Burns's brother Ken in his trilogy of breathtaking American documentaries, "The Civil War," "Baseball" and "Jazz." This is an excellent format: Clean, evenhanded, evocative, democratic yet firmly rooted in an ideological framework. But sometimes Ric, in "New York," lets that style, and the intellectual brand of rah-rah American centrism that is behind all of these documentaries, take precedence over its historical value. One will learn everything about New York's development as a colony, its geographical and economic importance, the European immigration that swelled its population, and its relationship to the rest of the United States. The work gives especial focus to the strength of the city as a modern Constantinople, a meeting place of all the world's cultures and traditions that nevertheless manages to exist in relative peace. Amid all of this, however, several crucial historical events and institutions, especially those from New York's more recent history, are omitted. The Five Points, for example, is mentioned but never defined or located. Also without mention are: The New York Times, the Mafia, the Battery landfill project, the theatre industry, the fledgling movie industry and its later removal to Hollywood, and the subsequent rise of Los Angeles as the only American city seriously to challenge New York's cultural primacy, the Beats, drugs, rap music (which is mentioned, but Burns is apparently afraid of playing us any), the election of Mayor David Dinkins, the gay and lesbian movements in the city, and the rehabilitation of the city under Police Commissioner William Bratton, seeing the most radical drop in the crime rate in the city's history. In place of these we get more breathless paeans to urban multiculturalism, more tentative hagiographies of New York's most notorious characters, more desperate defenses of New York's apparently fragile position as capital of the world, more handwringing lamentations over the depredations wrought by the automobile and the suburban transformation of American culture, more vilifications of Robert Moses and urban renewal, and yet more breathless paeans to urban multiculturalism. A balanced and thorough historical document would have been more valuable, both to us and to posterity, than yet another romantic hymn to New York. Still, as romantic hymns go, it's pretty remarkable.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Series for a Great City
Review: Though there are many older cities than New York, in the (relatively) short time of its existence, no city has captured the imagination, desire, love, and even hatred, that New York City has. Ric Burns has captured all of these emotions and more in this, one of the finest documentaries ever put on film. The series traces the history of NYC from its earliest days as a Dutch trading post through 2000 (an additional volume was produced after the September 11th terrorist attack). Using interviews, stories, & archival material (prints, paintings, photographs, and old silent films), Burns pulls the viewer in to the life of all types of New Yorkers through the last 300+ years.
Rating:
Summary: A Love Letter to a City
Review: Ric Burns has, in fact, done the incredible. He has written, produced, and directed a love letter to his home. The documentary shows NYC in all its splendor, with all its warts intact. It is a love letter to its buildings, its ideas, what it stands for, and its people. It shows its heroes and its villains (Boss Tweed and co). It shows its drive and its compassion. It shows its legends and its myths. In other words, it shows NYC for what it is, what it represents, to the people who live here and to the people who don't. A towering acheivement.
Rating:
Summary: Justice to the greatest city in the World.
Review: The Burns family has come up with some fine work, from Baseball, to the Civil War; and now the latest, New York. A fine successor. Ric Burns explores the early history of New York, starting with the God-created attributes of the region and one of the world's finest natural seaports. But the treasure is found in what man has added to the Apple, starting with the Erie Canal, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Subway system. The Bridge's history has itself been the subject of much scholarship, and Burns does it well also. The creation of the skyline, including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are some of the series best moments, filled with some of the fascinating type of information that fans of Burns' documentaries have come to expect and enjoy. The history of New York is the history of immigrants, and the interaction of Irish, Italians, Africans and other groups is splendidly examined. The politics of the City, such as the rise and demise of Al Smith are well explored also. My few complaints are minor, and don't detract from the work. F. Scott Fitzgerald seems to have become a demi-god to Burns, and after awhile, I found the continued references to him and his work tiring. More than a few minutes on the history of Harlem would have been a welcome replacement. Of course, history is harder to write the closer we are to it, but I would have liked to have seen the series end later (perhaps at the end of the 1960's). Even those not from New York will find it to be a rich, interesting history, worth of the length of time one must devote to its viewing. Those expatriate New Yorkers will be tugged to head back home. All in all, very worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Made My Heart Ache for NYC
Review: I had the good fortune to live in Manhattan for three years, from 2000-2003. During this time I lived through profound, life-altering events that I know will forever mark my soul. This DVD set tells the story of the greatest city on Earth, in such a poetic way. After each viewing, I feel more and more like I have a narrative to go along with the emotions that NYC generated in me when I lived there; that I was a part of the ongoing story of New York that began in 1609. The images, music, and narration of the documentary hit all the right notes, and more than once gave me chills. And even though the documentary may seem overly sentimental at times in its treatment of the City and people, ultimately this film should rightly be considered a heart-felt love letter to New York. In the end, I came to love New York City more than I ever imagined, and this DVD set made me realize that although I left NYC, I will never forget that for one brief moment, I knew that every time I left my apartment, I was standing at the center of the universe.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Documentary Series I've Seen!!!
Review: I love documentaries! I love them so much that I make them. My tastes are very particular and lean more toward verite work than narrated historical pieces. But, one exception is Ric Burns' fantastic series "New York." It is, quite simply, the most compelling, beautifully rendered documentary series I've ever seen. I've watched it three times and could easily view it again! The first time I caught it was during a business trip to San Francisco. I was supposed to meet some colleagues for dinner on the night of its premiere and thought I'd catch the first thirty-minutes before leaving my hotel room. Well, I never made it to dinner. I was totally taken with the first episode and remained glued to the televison until its completion. I responded equally well to the remaining 6 episodes and found myself feeling quite sad when it was all over. There's something quite romantic about this series, even when it addresses the more difficult moments of the city's history. New York is such a magnificent, seductive place and Ric Burns captures its many moods, nuances, high-points and convulsions with the skill of an historic surgeon and the artistic aplomb of a symphonic conductor. Congratulations, Mr. Burns, my respect for this accomplishment is nothing less than profound.
Rating:
Summary: New York
Review: Until I watched the New York, I never heard anything about Emma Lazarus. In all episodes, every voice is beautiful. The voices make the sonnet and Whitman's poems more special. And images are also beautiful. Close-up of Brooklyn bridge with the evening sunlight tells us about its history. It is the national historic civic engineering landmark, as the plaque says.
Ric Burns is great, I think.
Rating:
Summary: Let's see ALL 8 episodes in one boxed- set
Review: Look here now. How about putting all 8 episodes into ONE SINGLE BOXED-SET? I bought the original 5 episode boxed-set. I then sold it (at a profit)and bought the 7 episode boxed-set. And now I've got to buy episode 8, separately? Come on man. What kind of marketing is this?
Rating:
Summary: As monumental as the city it examines
Review: Released in two stages (parts 1-5 in 1999 and parts 6-7 in 2001), Ric Burns' NEW YORK, to a new viewer, might feel sadly outdated. There's a lot of buoyancy and, as others have noted, a lot of "rah-rah-ism" going on. After all, the series was filmed during Wall Street's dotcom-induced high of the mid-90s, and all those smiles on the faces of former mayor Rudy Giuliani, writer Brendan Gill, and historian David McCullough are blissfully ignorant of what the economic collapse of 2000 and the events of 9/11/01 would do to Gotham and America. And the dozens upon dozens of shots of the World Trade Center are almost unbearable, at least to this New Yorker. But try, please, please try to look at this remarkable documentary from the point of view of a pre-Y2K American or, for that matter, from an American of the future not so horribly close to 9/11. I stress American because the documentary is so U.S.-focused it would bristle non-Americans. (Actually, it might even bristle non-New Yorkers.) If you can do that, you'll be in for one of the most insightful, poignant, monumental, and nothing less than brilliant films on the history of New York City ever made. I'm going to take that a step or two further--it is one of the best histories of NYC in any medium and one of the best documentaries on any subject ever made. The pacing is incredible. Part 1 which covers, roughly, the first 200 years of the city's existence reveals just how far back New York's roots extend. And yet, the minutes (and hours) go by quickly in spite of the extraordinary amount of information that's covered. The same can be said of the other six parts, as well. It's all so informative and brisk. And you'll be surprised how much native New Yorkers can learn about their own city! And not everything is so rah-rah, by the way. The film is brutally honest about the downsides to New York's history. From the Dutch war with the natives to the Draft Riots, from Jacob Riis' revelations about the horrors of tenement life through the Triangle Fire, from the Jimmy Walker scandal through the scandalous plans of Robert Moses, New York is rightfully indicted for the many atrocities commited within its borders. To examine each of the episodes here would be pointless--it would take too much time and still wouldn't express the importance of this film. I won't do that here. Ric Burns has created a brilliant installment to the brilliant American Experience series that I urge all New Yorkers, Americans and history-lovers to see. Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points Concluded (PS--As for the glimpses of the World Trade Center, Ric Burns did produce an eighth chapter (in 2003) to describe the rise and fall of those towers to bring this all up-to-date. The tone and timing were appropriate and I recommend that along with this set.
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