New York: The City of Tomorrow (2001)

• 83%
• 2001
• Ric Burns

During the great depression life we see how terrible it was for the people of New York (including the children) who would dig through the garbage searching for any remnants of substance that could be digested. Tens of thousands of people were evicted from their homes as there was no work to pay rent. It was also the period when Germany invaded Poland and the USA entered into World War II. The storied 1939 World's Fair was underway which provided millions of tourists and New Yorkers their first glimpse of what cities and future sprawling suburbs could be with evolution of mass produced cars and new super highways could create. Two men who are credited for stopping the Tammany Hall men such as Mayor James J. Walker of stealing public city coffer spoils and their corruption were finally stopped by the New Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, who became the 99th Mayor of New York City for three terms from 1934 to 1945 as a Republican. The other key man of the 1930's New York was master builder Robert Moses, a public official responsible for his vision noted in the history of urban development in the United States. Surviving the Harlem riots, the Mayor Walker corruption scandal, and the great depression, public highways were built to accommodate the increasing mass produced vehicles and the suburban sprawl.