Ric Burns Captures New York at Its Least Argumentative

When your brother is Ken Burns, it takes a certain chutzpah to follow him into the documentary film game. For more than three decades, Mr. Burns has made popular, widely acclaimed films on subjects ranging from the Civil War and baseball to jazz and, most recently, the American Revolution. He is so synonymous with the TV documentary form that some have taken to simply calling him “America’s storyteller.”But Ken’s younger brother, Ric Burns, proved he had plenty of game himself with “New York: A Documentary Film.” Premiering in 2003, this eight-part epic ably covered more than four centuries of city history. The final episode of” New York: A Documentary Film” aired in September 2003 — just two years after the 9/11 terror attacks – so inevitably it felt tenuous, even incomplete.This week, Mr. Burns attempted to put a more fitting bow on his magnum opus with two additional episodes, each 120 minutes in length, released on PBS web sites and affiliate TV stations.Episode nine, “Shadows of the Past (1965–2001),” opens ominously with the 1945 accidental crash of an Air Force plane into the Empire State Building. Several people died, but in the end this was a minor news story in a city that was on the verge of becoming the capital of the world.Mr. Burns’ true narrative starting point is the 1965 Hart-Cellar immigration act, which opened America’s borders after four decades of severe restrictions. The film could have more clearly explained the gap between the legislation’s expected results to spur modest immigration — largely from Europe — and actual impact — vast numbers of newcomers from Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean — but that would get into charged debates that Mr. Burns – for better or worse – generally avoids.Much of the material Mr. Burns’ covers remains highly controversial: Immigration, high crime, police brutality, Donald Trump. But he doesn’t linger long enough for any viewer’s ideological feelings to get hurt.Because these events are recent, Gotham aficionados will likely notice more of what’s missing in the two new episodes than what’s presented: No Ocean-Hill-Brownsville teacher-community tensions in 1968) or “hard hat riots” two years later; no movie moments with Spike Lee or Martin Scorsese; nothing much about sports.The truth is that there is a lot of material and chronological overlap between 2003’s episode seven (1945-2000) and eight (1946-2003) and 2026’s two new entries, which could create confusion for some viewers. In episode nine, Mr. Burns focuses on the near-bankruptcy and population declines of the mid-1970s, the surreal 1977 blackout and Son of Sam murders, and the devastating crime epidemic that followed.Ric Burns and Ed Koch at the premiere of ‘New York’ at Manhattan, New York. Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic via Getty ImagesAt times, this can also seem like a Greatest Hits collection of “rights” movements, including footage of activists calling for “Free Abortion on Demand.” Mr. Burns is kind to Mayor David Dinkins (1989-1993), less so towards Rudy Giuliani, though the film does give lots of credit to lesser-known NYPD bigwig Jack Maple.Episode ten — “The Future of Cities (2001–2026)” — opens but does not linger — on 9/11, noting that the attacks happened just “as the digital age arrived with a fury,” as narrator Robert Sean Leonard intones. (Mr. Leonard’s voice-over is excellent, though he does lack the distinctive vocal style of earlier narrator David Ogden Stiers, best known as Boston Brahmin Charles Emerson Winchester III from the TV show “MASH.”)The World Trade Center attacks turned out to be one of “four immense crises” with which the city contended in the 21st Century’s first two decades: 9/11, the 2008 global financial crisis, Hurricane Sandy, and COVID.That Mayor Bloomberg was essentially elected because of the first, and then presided over the next two, suggests who the main character of episode ten turns out to be. “I think Mike Bloomberg is the greatest mayor in New York City’s history,” one talking head proclaims. Mr. Burns is certainly willing to entertain the notion. And it’s one of the few genuinely provocative moments in these final two episodes.More so given the contrasts between Mr. Bloomberg and the two more progressive subsequent mayors. The final episode doesn’t have all that much to say about New York’s new, polarizing mayor, opting instead for a more sweeping, emotional conclusion emphasizing resilience and unity, with nods to the New York Knicks electrifying NBA title run. While there are some eye-rollers in these final two episodes (“New York’s plural pluralisms give me hope,” the New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik proclaims at one point), Mr. Burns’ latest work is an engaging and efficient summary of the city’s recent history.Some talking heads tie themselves up in verbal pretzels trying to balance the importance of wealth creation with fair treatment of the poor. But at least Mr. Burns doesn’t pretend he knows how to solve what the documentary itself calls New York’s “ultimate conundrum.”Wherever you stand on the likes of Bill De Blasio and Zohran Mamdani, they are one model for future urban leadership, while Mr. Bloomberg represents another. That any kind of Bloomberg-esque alternative has yet to emerge is as important a story as Mamdani’s rise to national prominence. Perhaps that’s something Mr. Burns will tackle in a future episode.

Ric Burns Captures New York at Its Least Argumentative

Ric Burns Captures New York at Its Least Argumentative

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