NearÂly two and a half cenÂturies after its foundÂing, the UnitÂed States of AmerÂiÂca is still both celÂeÂbratÂed and deridÂed as a young counÂtry. ExamÂined on the whole, the US may or may not seem less mature than othÂer lands in any obviÂous way, but the difÂferÂence manÂiÂfests much more clearÂly on the levÂel of cities. For even among those foundÂed before the indeÂpenÂdence of the counÂtry itself, no AmerÂiÂcan city has yet attained 500 offiÂcial years of age. But in the case of New York City, we can trace its forÂmaÂtion through half a milÂlenÂniÂum of hisÂtoÂry, as renÂdered in the 3D aniÂmatÂed video from InfoÂGeek above.
The long verÂsion of New York’s stoÂry begins in 1524, the year GioÂvanÂni da VerÂrazÂzano comÂmandÂed the French ship La Dauphine into what we now know as New York HarÂbor. While he and his crew did not, of course, get the draÂmatÂic forÂest-of-skyÂscrapÂers view for which that approach would latÂer be celÂeÂbratÂed, they would, perÂhaps, have seen an actuÂal forÂest, as well as othÂer eleÂments of a natÂurÂal landÂscape that would have appeared subÂlimeÂly untouched. A cenÂtuÂry latÂer, the Dutch there foundÂed the tradÂing outÂpost of New AmsÂterÂdam, which comÂmenced the writÂten hisÂtoÂry of New York — as well as the aggresÂsive develÂopÂment that would evenÂtuÂalÂly come to charÂacÂterÂize the city and its culÂture.
New AmsÂterÂdam became New York in 1664, one of the many hisÂtorÂiÂcal events that scroll past in the winÂdow at the video’s lowÂer-left corÂner. At that point in time, the popÂuÂlaÂtion had grown to about 3,600, a figÂure countÂed at the botÂtom of the frame. Yet even as we see streets roll out, buildÂings rise, and trees sprout rapidÂly around us over the next 150 or so years of our stroll, and even after New York becomes AmerÂiÂca’s largest city in 1790, we must bear in mind that its cenÂtuÂry hasÂn’t even begun. It’s someÂthing of an irony that the hugeÂly destrucÂtive Great Fire of 1835 preÂcedes a develÂopÂmenÂtal push that makes the city, even to our twenÂty-first-cenÂtuÂry eyes, look almost modÂern.
LatÂer in the nineÂteenth cenÂtuÂry, we witÂness the appearÂance of CenÂtral Park and the introÂducÂtion of motorÂcars; by the turn of the twenÂtiÂeth, New York’s popÂuÂlaÂtion approachÂes three and a half milÂlion. WalkÂing down Wall Street (and into the Great DepresÂsion), we pass just-mateÂriÂalÂizÂing landÂmarks that remain iconÂic today, like the Chrysler BuildÂing, the Empire State BuildÂing and — after a someÂwhat draÂmatÂic fast-forÂward in time — Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. GuggenÂheim MuseÂum and Minoru YamasakÂi’s ill-fatÂed World Trade CenÂter. We’re now well into the New York of livÂing memÂoÂry, and even when the aniÂmaÂtion has passed the creÂative decrepiÂtude of the sevÂenÂties and eightÂies and arrives at the city as it was last year (popÂuÂlaÂtion: 7,888,120), we sense that its evoÂluÂtion has only just begun.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
New York City: A Social HisÂtoÂry (A Free Online Course from N.Y.U.)
ImmacÂuÂlateÂly Restored Film Lets You RevisÂit Life in New York City in 1911
Scenes of New York City in 1945 ColÂorized & Revived with ArtiÂfiÂcial IntelÂliÂgence
The Lost NeighÂborÂhood Buried Under New York City’s CenÂtral Park
An ArchiÂtect DemysÂtiÂfies the Art Deco Design of the IconÂic Chrysler BuildÂing (1930)
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.