Since its premiere on PBS in September 1999, New York: A Documentary Film has become one of the most popular American public television series in history, with just under 20 million households tuning in over its decade-long broadcast. Narrated by the inimitable David Ogden Stiers, the series features exclusive and timeless interviews with some of the most renowned New Yorkers, including Mayors Ed
Koch and Rudolph Giuliani and Governor Mario Cuomo, as well as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Ada Louise Huxtable, Robert Caro, Ray Suarez and Martin Scorsese. Over the course of its decade long broadcast, the series won two Emmy Awards and received a further four nominations. It was also honored with the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award, the highest achievement in broadcast journalism. The series garnered glowering reviews, with Variety stating New York was "nothing short of gripping...a monumental series that raises the bar for this kind of work." The New York Times called it simply, "a beautifully realized documentary" and The New York Sun deemed it, "soul-stirring...documentary as both social report and art." In the years since its first broadcast, the New York series has become a touchstone for those seeking to understand the ideals and values that define the city, and a crucial educational resource for high schools and colleges around the country.
