The Big Apple and the Empire State are the focus of the 1950s travel film, “New York.” It opens with scenes of skyscrapers and bustling streets as the narrator explains how they are symbols of a great metropolis. Some of them famous around the world — such as the Waldorf-Astoria (mark 01:03) or Grand Central Station (mark 01:20). The film proclaims NYC as a mix of new and old, and we see scenes from an art show in Greenwich Village (mark 01:55) and St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery in the East Village (mark 02:25), which was consecrated in 1799. From here we go to Radio City (mark 03:07) and its outdoor skating rink and look at Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Heading Uptown, the film shows us Columbia University (mark 04:20) and the tomb of US President Ulysses S. Grant (mark 04:49). There is a ticker tape parade on Broadway and we view the neon lights of Broadway and Time Square before viewing the Statue of Liberty (mark 05:45) in New York Harbor and city’s many bridges and tunnels. There are several scenes of visitors enjoying all that Long Island has to offer before visiting the Hudson River (mark 11:35) and the United States Military Academy at West Point (mark 12:09) as cadets march in formation.

Before long the camera shows us Albany, the state capitol, and we learn of all it has to offer before shuffling off to Buffalo (14:10). Moving out of the big cities, there are idyllic views from Whiteface Mountain (mark 16:08) and later Old Fort Niagara (mark 18:25) originally built in 1678. Of course, there are breath-taking scenes from Niagara Falls starting at mark 19:35 as the narrator touts its natural beauty. After boasting of more of the state’s great outdoors, the film takes to the sky at mark 23:32 with a visit to Elmira — “glider capital of the world.” There are many scenes from state parks beginning at mark 24:55 and the Sant Lawrence River (mark 27:00) and the Thousand Islands (mark 27:27) which constitute an archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddle the Canada–US border. Seasons change as the film rolls on and at mark 29:10 shares snowy scenes as visitors ice skate and bobsled at Lake Placid (mark 30:00).