Original subtitles

(wind blowing)

(awe-inspiring music)

(majestic music)

- [Narrator] Our journey begins at Hyde Park Mansion,

the summer home of the Vanderbilt family

on the Hudson River, about 100 miles upstream

from New York, which is just one of the many

great houses overlooking the river.

Heading south, we take in West Point Military Academy

as well as a famous golf club

and a notorious prison facility.

At Sleepy Hollow, we take a look at the old Dutch church

in Washington Irving's creepy tale

before looking at two more 19th-century mansions.

The river then takes us down to the city that never sleeps,

New York.

(birds chirping)

The Hudson River flows for 315 miles through New York

and is named after Henry Hudson who explored it in 1609.

In the late 19th century,

during what has become known as the Gilded Age,

many beautiful, large mansions were built

for wealthy industrialists along the river.

Hyde Park Mansion, with its 54 rooms,

was home to Frederick William Vanderbilt and constructed

in the Beaux-Arts architectural style from 1895.

It was designed to be a seasonal country residence.

The house was very modern at the time

and used concrete and steel in its construction.

Electricity came from a private power house

and the house even had hot air central heating.

The original estate was around 600 acres

but in 1938, much of the land and the mansion

were donated to the National Park Service.

(gentle instrumental music)

Two miles downriver is the Springwood Estate

which is the birthplace, home and burial place

of the 32nd President of the United States,

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The estate was bought by the President's father in 1866

who then enlarged the house.

It was further enlarged in 1915

so that they yet-to-be-president

could entertain his political friends.

He designed the two wings himself,

giving the house a Colonial Revival Style.

The Roosevelt Library, close to the house,

was the first Presidential Library

built in the United States

and was designed by the President himself in 1939.

(wind blowing)

(majestic music)

The Hudson River is still a busy waterway

and navigable for much of its length.

With the opening of the Erie Canal further upstream,

goods could be transported between the city of Buffalo

and the Great Lakes and the Port of New York.

The success of the waterway led to industrial growth

along the river during the late 19th century.

However, serious pollution problems of raw sewage

and industrial waste followed

and it was only from the 1960s

that anti-pollution legislation finally came into force

and the clean up effort could begin.

Environmental protection was also important

for the landscape overlooking the river.

The Hudson Highlands were saved

and became a state park during the mid 20th century,

as previously the area had been heavily logged and mined.

(gentle instrumental music)

Today, the 6,000 acre park, with its proximity

to New York City, is a popular destination for day hikes.

(birds chirping)

Just downstream is the United States Military Academy

at West Point, and the oldest of the five such academies

in the United States.

It was founded in 1802 with the motto,

"Duty,

"honor,

"country."

On the hill above West Point is Fort Putnam,

Completed in 1778, to protect the Hudson

during the Revolutionary War.

It was later enlarged but had gradually fallen into disuse

by the mid 19th century.

Around 65,000 cadets have graduated from West Point,

including several household names, Custer, Lee,

Sherman and Meade from the Civil War.

From World War II, MacArthur, Bradley and Patton.

And also two presidents, Ulysses S. Grant

and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

George Washington is celebrated as America's first

Commander in Chief who won independence for America

before the academy was founded.

In West Point's history, there have been 74 recipients

of the Medal of Honor, the highest award for bravery

in the United States.

On the opposite bank of the Hudson

is the first railroad track to be built

in the sate of New York in 1831.

The line was originally called

The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad

and was built by Frederick William Vanderbilt

whose house we saw earlier.

In 1853, the line became part of the much bigger

New York Central Railroad.

(upbeat music)

Today, diesel locomotives carry commuters

to and from Grand Central Station in New York

on a 75-mile scenic stretch of track,

much of it running right next to the river.

In 1996, the Hudson National Golf Club

opened up on the site of an old estate

downstream from West Point

and the mansion easily converted into the club house.

The 260-acre site, which now ranks in the top 100

golf clubs in America, offers unrivaled views

over the Hudson River.

(upbeat music)

The club is unusual in that players have to walk the course

and only have use of a golf cart if over 60 years of age

or physically infirm.

(birds chirping)

A very different sort of club is a few miles downriver

and one that you don't really want to join.

Sing-Sing Correctional Facility.

This maximum-security prison came into being in 1824.

Over the years there have been 614 executions,

but in 1972, the death penalty was finally declared

unconstitutional in the state of New York

and the electric chair was removed.

Today the prison houses around 2,000 inmates.

(wind blowing)

(gentle instrumental music)

In 1996, North Tarrytown was renamed Sleepy Hollow

when residents voted to have it changed

to honor Washington Irving's story,

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, published in 1820,

which was set in the town.

The story is still in print today.

Over the decades, the legend has been made

into several films, including Tim Burton's version in 1999.

In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,

the cemetery and old Dutch church,

which is the oldest church in the state,

feature prominently in the tale

where Ichabod Crane, the new schoolmaster,

competes with a rival for the hand of Katrina Van Tassel.

When he leaves a party at the Van Tassel house,

he rides his horse, Gunpowder, towards a wooden bridge

close to the church and cemetery,

where he sees the Headless Horseman on the other side.

Irving writes, "In the dark shadow of the grove

"on the margin of the brook,

"he beheld something huge, misshapen, black and towering.

"It stirred not but seemed gathered up in the gloom

"like some gigantic monster

"ready to spring upon the traveler."

Ichabod was never seen again.

But who was the horseman?

An evil spirit from the past in search of his head?

Or was it Ichabod's rival?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

leaves it up to the reader to decide.

(jaunty music)

On a hill above Sleepy Hollow

is one of New York State's most famous houses,

built for the industrialist John D. Rockefeller

who had made a fortune in the oil business.

Commanding wonderful views over the Hudson,

it is named Kykuit,

derived from the Dutch word meaning lookout.

The Classical Revival house took six years to complete

and was finally finished in 1913.

It's six stories high, with the two basement floors

housing all the service rooms as well as delivery tunnels

and inter-connecting passageways.

The garden is laid out in a series of terraces

and in the park, mature trees were transplanted

at huge cost and placed into prominent positions.

The house is now open to the public

and a National Historic Landmark.

In 1952, construction began on the Tappan Zee Bridge

across the Hudson at its second-widest point.

It's the first bridge upriver from the City of New York.

Because it was built at a time of material shortages

during the Korean War,

it was only meant to last for 50 years.

But together with an increase of traffic

that was never envisaged, the cantilever bridge

is beginning to deteriorate and a new bridge is planned.

Half a mile from the bridge

is a Gothic Revival house begun in 1838

and today called Lyndhurst.

The original house was smaller

and given the nickname Paulding's Folly

after its builder, William Paulding

because of its unusual architectural style.

The second owner, George Merritt,

a successful businessman, doubled the size of the house

in the 1860s and named it Lyndenhurst

after the linden trees on the estate.

In 1880, the house was purchased by railroad tycoon

Jay Gould who added the first steel-framed conservatory

in the United States, replanted the park

and called the house Lyndhurst.

The house is still privately owned.

Perhaps one of the most unusual properties to be built

during the Gilded Period of the late 19th century

is this domed octagonal house, the Armour-Stiner House.

It was named after its first two owners,

Paul Armour and Joseph Stiner.

Paul Armour built the octagonal house in 1860

but with without a dome,

that was added by the second owner, Joseph Stiner,

in the 1870s.

He also enlarged the house, creating what we see today.

The design may well be unique in America

and its exuberant style led to it being described as

the Taj Mahal of the Hudson Valley

and a pastry chef's nightmare.

In 1976, the house was declared

a National Historic Landmark.

Our journey is fast approaching the City of New York

and the river becomes a transport system for commuters.

Alongside the river and on the border with New Jersey

is the Palisades Interstate Parkway,

a major route in and out of the city

and now designated a National Landmark.

Construction began just after the Second World War in 1947

and was completed 10 years later.

The Parkway takes its name from the New Jersey Palisades,

a line of cliffs on the Hudson.

And behind the cliffs is the silhouette

of one of the best-known and best-loved cities

in the world, New York.

(wind blowing)

(ethereal music)

With special permission from New York's Air Traffic

Control Center to climb to 5,000 feet,

the whole of Manhattan is set out before us.

Manhattan is one of the five districts of New York City,

the others being the Bronx, Queens,

Brooklyn and Staten Island.

But Manhattan, the smallest of the five,

is the most densely populated and the heart of the city.

It's a major commercial, financial

and cultural center of the United States and the world.

This awe-inspiring sight, with its myriad

of high-rise buildings, looks simply spectacular

from the air.

(ethereal music)

(helicopter whirring)

So, one of the best ways to see New York,

without doubt, has to be by helicopter.

And several companies operate passenger flights

around the city, some of them will include flying out

to the Statue of Liberty,

surely one of the most famous statues in the world.

(helicopter whirring)

The gilded flame held aloft by the Statue of Liberty

has been a symbol of freedom to millions of people

around the world for over 120 years.

The statue was to be a gift to the people of America

from the people of France in 1876,

in recognition of the friendship forged

during the American Revolution,

and also to celebrate the centennial

of the Declaration of Independence.

It was agreed that the base would be funded and built

by America and placed on what is now Liberty Island.

Following years of hard fund raising in both the US

and France, the statue eventually arrived

in New York in 1885.

The 350 individual pieces were packed

in 214 crates and took four months to assemble

on the new pedestal.

On October the 28th, 1886,

the dedication ceremony took place

in front of thousands of spectators.

And in 1984, the Statue of Liberty was declared

a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.

(gentle instrumental music)

Close by is Ellis Island,

the gateway for millions of immigrants

arriving in the new world and where roughly half

the population of America can probably trace

their families back to.

The center operated between 1892 and 1954

and the small island was gradually enlarged

through landfill until 9/10ths of it was artificial.

It is now a much-visited museum.

Tourist boats criss cross the harbor

along with various ferries,

including the distinctive orange Staten Island Ferries

which pass Governor's Island.

(gentle instrumental music)

The name goes back to a time of British rule

when the island was the exclusive preserve

of New York Royal Governors.

(energetic music)

Bridges are a distinctive feature of New York

and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

straddles the entrance to the harbor

and joins Staten Island to Brooklyn.

The bridge is named after the Italian explorer

Giovanni da Verrazzano who was the first European

to enter the harbor in 1524.

It was completed in 1964 and at the time

was the longest suspension bridge in the world.

(energetic music)

In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge

was the longest suspension bridge in the world

as well as the first to be build of steel.

The pedestrian walkway offers great views

of the city and bridge.

It took 16 years to build and claimed the lives

of 20 people, including its designer, John A. Roebling.

Most died of caisson disease, known today as the bends,

after coming up too fast from the caissons

below the East River.

(energetic music)

The George Washington Bridge

is the first to cross the Hudson

and connects Washington Heights to Fort Lee in New Jersey.

The double-decker bridge was completed in 1931

and has 14 lanes for traffic.

By the year 2007, the bridge was carrying

well over 100 million vehicles a year.

Also along the Hudson River is the New York Passenger

Ship Terminal which is also known as Luxury Liner Row.

Before the age of air travel,

this was where passengers would arrive

in the great ocean liners from around the world.

(helicopter whirring)

Even today around a million people arrive by ship each year

and get superb views of the city before docking.

The East River separates Manhattan and Brooklyn

on Long Island and was the busiest shipping channel

in the early part of New York's history.

The Williamsburg Bridge was built in 1896,

13 years after the Brooklyn Bridge.

Overlooking East River is the United Nations Headquarters,

built in 1950.

The land it stands on

is considered to be international property.

A mile upstream and the river forks right

under Hell Gate Bridge before widening out

at LaGuardia Airport and Rikers Island,

New York City's main jail complex.

The Harlem River forms part of the Hudson Estuary System

and serves as a narrow channel

dividing the Bronx from Manhattan.

And over this short stretch of river are 14 bridges.

Close by are the old and new Yankee Stadiums.

The furthest away, built in 1923

and the nearest in 2006.

The best-known open space in New York

must be Central Park.

This 770 acre open space

was completed by 1873

and is the most popular park in the United States.

One of its creators, Frederick Olmsted,

said that it was of, "Great importance

"as the first real park made in this country.

"A democratic development of the highest significance."

It took 16 years to create and involved planting around

500,000 trees and shrubs.

Lakes were dug, hills created,

follies built, formal gardens laid out

and bridges constructed.

The only building encroaching into the perfect rectangle

is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, begun in the 1870s.

At the southern end of Manhattan is the financial district

which roughly overlaps the original

New Amsterdam settlement of the 17th century.

And right on the end is Battery Park

where the Dutch and then the British

had an artillery fort.

The district is home to major financial institutions

including the Federal Reserve and the Stock Exchange.

It was also home to the Twin Towers

until the tragedy of 9/11.

And that appalling event

meant that the Empire State Building

was once again the tallest skyscraper in New York.

(birds chirping)

It was built in the Art Deco Style in 1931

and is still the 15th tallest building in the world

at 1,250 feet.

It was opened in dramatic fashion

when president Hoover pushed a button in the Oval Office

in Washington and turned the lights on.

(swanky music)

New York comes alive at night

and nowhere is it more brightly lit

than around Times Square.

(swanky music)

Back in 1899, Oscar Hammerstein

built the Victoria and Republic theaters and since then

Broadway has been at the heart of entertainment.

Theater goers take in a show and then eat and drink

in one of the many bars and restaurants.

The bright lights welcome everyone,

ward off the darkness and produce a city

where everything seems possible.

New York is known as the city that never sleeps,

a saying taken from a film of 1924.

Even the traffic contributes to the lighting effect

along the streets, like long multi-colored glowing ribbons.

Buildings are lit with neon hoardings

and some of the skyscrapers are lit like works of art,

none more so than the Chrysler Building.

(swanky music)

For many people, this is the greatest Art Deco

building in the city and was completed in 1930.

At night, the distinctive V-shaped lights,

which were fitted when the skyscraper was being built,

have become an iconic sight.

The floodlighting was added later.

(swanky music)

Seen from the river, the city resembles a magical

ocean liner, set against a black sky

to dazzle, entertain and amaze.

Great walls of glass sparkle in the night

as the skyscrapers reflect the light

from the streets of the city that never sleeps.

(swanky music)

And out in the harbor, the Statue of Liberty

watches over the city, her light shining out

for the freedom she represents.

A perfect place to end this journey.

(swanky music)

(awe-inspiring music)

(dramatic music)