Cities and Empires: New York

New York circa 1930. The empire. In the history of humankind, there have been many empires, many cities of empires. A central urban hub where profits are stored, and symbols of power are on display. By 1930, the city of New York became a new breed of modern urbanity unfathomable in the rest of world. It was magnificent. How quickly it surpassed the old superpowers of Europe. How quickly Wall Street became the financial Mecca of the global economy. Towers rose vertically like as had never been seen; 14 of the 15 tallest buildings on earth were on the island of Manhattan. Its streets and towers are not simply a marvel of architecture and engineering, but they draw fantastic historical parallels to America’s rise to the global superpower that has shaped the world for over a century.

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