THE ARTS IN NEW YORK CITY Fall 2017 | Baruch College | Macaulay Honors

Advertisements are a great source of illustrations of social and cultural history. They show what people were interested in and what they valued. Advertisements exemplify how much knowledge the public had about the things they were buying. They are snapshots of culture in a shorter, more concentrated, sense. Observing advertisements through time show change through a social first-person narrative. When you combine “advertisements” and “New York City,” what’s the first place you think of?

Times Square, 2017

Times Square has been an iconic part of New York City since the beginning of the 1900s. In 1903, a skyscraper was being built and the New York Times newspaper made it their home for almost a decade, giving Times Square the name we know today.

Times Building, 1903

In just five years, this was an iconic location in the city. In 1908, people gathered to watch an outdoor movie screening in the square. In comparison, today millions of people rush to this same place to watch the iconic ball on Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

Times Square, 1908

By 1915, Times Square was shining bright with mesmerizing lights and fascinating advertisements. The themes of the ads were not much different from today. Coca-Cola was front row center and others tagged along like car and alcohol companies.

The two advertisements that paved the road to 3D commercials and blazing neon lights were iconic and impressive, even today. In 1936, Wrigley designed a whole street-wide commercial with colorful neon lights that made you look at them from every angle of Times Square. This million-dollar investment created a great path for investors and advertisers that aimed at making their advertisements truly breath-taking and impossible to take your eyes off of.  In the same way, Camel created a catchy 3D commercial that showed a happy man blowing smoke from his Camel cigarette. The ad was effective for over two decades before advertising cigarettes became illegal. It served its purpose perfectly, making it thought-provoking and quite fascinating, thinking about how they made real smoke come out of the billboard!

Wrigley commercial, 1936

From here on, the situation with Times Square escalated quickly to become what we know today. In almost every single picture of Times Square, Coca-Cola is present. This year, they didn’t go by unrecognized; they released the first 3D robotic sign commercial, where the billboard screen comes to life as individual little screens move and change their colors and images.

Camel commercial, 1960s

Although advertisements in Times Square have a bad name amongst New Yorkers today, they were quite impressive one hundred years ago. We can’t blame people for being fascinated with such technological advances at the time. However, today most people who live in New York avoid this landmark. The advertisements and commercials have become overwhelming and the zombie people that walk slowly with their heads up to observe them give off an eerie feeling.

Times Square, 1965

This brings me to the idea that all things are good in moderation. The excitement and infatuation with bigger advertisements, higher profits, brighter lights, bigger screens, has come to a point of an overwhelming saturation. The example with Times Square can be applied all throughout the city. The reasonable limit has been crossed with everything from the subway to the traffic creating an uncomfortable living situation for New Yorkers.

This metropolitan city has reached a peak in its development and instead of continuing in this direction, maybe it’s time to step back and appreciate what we have. If this continues, the city will reach a point of malfunction. The advertisements in Time Square are an example of the inspiration that this city offers; people get excited and motivated and begin thriving in the great New York. However, Times Square is also an example of what New Yorkers are beginning to avoid. Perhaps we should focus on the place that New Yorkers run off to. What places offer escape? How can we incorporate elements from these places into the craziness of our city life?

Ellen Stoyanov

We all know that feeling- when you’re watching a movie set in New York City and you recognize more than half the backdrops and settings in the movie because, of course, this is the life you live. Watching movies set in NYC has always been really entertaining for me because a place I rush through on my commute every morning could be the opening scene of a hit superhero movie (in this case, the movie I had in mind is Spider-Man 2, in which the opening scene is filmed on the 7 train.)

As we go through time, we go through New York City in the eyes and perspectives of different people. One of the most accurate representations of this diverse timeline is the world of film and cinema. Decades and decades of movies set in New York City have allowed viewers to experience New York City in the eyes of mobsters, gang members, lovers, workers, criminals, and moreover, regular people living a New Yorker life.

Upon research of the varying cinematographic perspectives of New York City through the years, I encountered some of the most iconic films. I’ve watched a few of these movies and have sometimes wished to be transported back in time to the 1970s so I too can fight crime with Detective John Shaft (Shaft, 1971).

All About Eve (1950)

Stardom in the 1950s was a cutthroat world, as reminded by All About Eve, a film about a young woman deliberately trying to usurp stardom for herself in New York City. Here, we see New York City through the maddening, pulsating world of fame and glamour with more than a touch of poison.

Rear Window (1954)

In Rear Window, viewers are given a “window” into the life of a quiet Greenwich Village photographer who witnesses a murder through his apartment window. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window, shows the audience what dirty secrets lie rampant in the glamorous world of Manhattan.

On the Waterfront (1954)

On the Waterfront depicts life in the 1950s for dockworkers at the corruption-filled waterfront. We watch as Marlon Brando and friends struggle to resist the mob-controlled abuse of power, while struggling to maintain their daily lives as hard working laborers. This film shows the brutality of corruption in New York City and the life of a commonplace worker fighting against it.

West Side Story (1961)

The classic West Side Story is told through the eyes of star-crossed lovers who fall in love despite their affiliations with two warring New York City gangs- the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. West Side Story shows the heavy presence of gang activity in the 1960s, as well as a softer side with two teenagers who cannot help but fall in love.

Serpico (1973)

Serpico is told through the life of an NYPD officer who goes undercover in order to expose corruption within New York’s own justice system. The film does not hold back in exposing the grit and dirt of crime in the 1970s, and it is unafraid to let the world know about the corruption that runs rampant among the streets of New York City.

Manhattan (1979)

True to its name, Manhattan holds gorgeous and captivating views of the city while pursuing a much more hideous subject: the love affair between a divorced, middle-aged man and a seventeen year old high school girl. Although considered problematic today, in 1979, the film focused on the intensity of the social interaction procreated in New York City.

Fame (1980)

Appealing to its younger audience, Fame took on the role of the young and talented of New York City at the High School of Performing Arts where students dreaming of reaching for the stars. Bright and starry-eyed, yet highly tense and filled with the pains of growing up, Fame gives audiences a genuine insight into what life is like for a New York City youngster in the late 1900s.

Working Girl (1988)

Working Girl follows the commuter life of Staten Island’s Tessa McGill, who fights for her way into the male-dominated business world of New York City. It is considered the “ultimate portrait of the life of a young professional New York Woman in the 1980s.” (Buzzfeed)

Juice (1992)

Starring the legendary Tupac, Juice is filmed through the eyes of a group of young kids raised in the tough streets of Harlem, Manhattan. The three friends form a gang, first experimenting with petty thefts and gradually moving on to life-altering crimes. It is a reminder that not every child in Manhattan is raised with a pedigree and a trust fund- some are forced to resort to actions that feel like the only way to cope with their childhoods and surroundings.

Center Stage (2000)

Welcome to the lives of some of the world’s greatest dancers as they navigate their way through the murderous competition, the unreachable demands and the bitterness that comes with being a ballerina in the School of American Ballet.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)T

The 2000s were some of the greatest years fashion has ever had, and although glamorous, the world of fashion is equally times as wicked. In The Devil Wears Prada, a young college grad fights to create a life for herself in New York City, working at one of the biggest fashion magazines, under one of the world’s cruelest bosses.

Remember Me (2010)

Remember Me is shot through the lens of a New York University student who is on the wrong track of life. A tumultuous, messy love story, Remember Me shows the difficulty of being a college student in love with a girl but in hate with the world. It is one of my all-time favorite romance movies, with the absolute worst ending.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street, in my opinion, is one of the greatest movies of all time. It follows the story of real-life Jordan Belfort, a once extremely successful wall street stockbroker, whose company and lifestyle fell to corruption and downfall. The Wolf of Wall Street is raunchy and greedy- as real as the world of Wall Street itself is. It tackles the issue of corruption within Wall Street and can serve as a reminder that this corruption may never leave.

Researching movies shot through the decades in New York City was a lot of fun and actually gave me a few new titles that I have to remember to watch. Most importantly, it is a reminder of how many perspectives there are; whether it is through the decades, through the years, or through the days. In a list of 13 movies spanning more than 60 years, a dozen different perspectives have been uncovered and discovered through the lens. The true urban change and development behind New York City is fostered and sponsored through its people and the roles we all play.

The lights, skyscrapers, and cultural hub have always drawn producers and directors of famous movies to use the streets of New York City as their setting for their award-winning movies. New York City has been popularized for one reason by the exposure it has in so many famous movies. Visitors and tourists to Times Square are almost always there because they’ve seen it in a movie or TV show. For New Yorkers, this may just be another Avenue of The City, but for others it’s the visual representation of what they have fantasied New York City to be all along, the bright lights, the crowds of people and the excitement in the atmosphere. From Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, and even the Grand Central Station, New York City has been the home multiple popular movie sets for ages. Overtime, it is important to note that as the years passed, the landscape of New York City also began to evolve. This evolution is what enables us to see the classic landmarks of New York we’ve seen on famous classic movies from generations ago.

The changes in the New York City urban landscape has been documented through blockbuster movies over the past years. From 1900 to 2017, movies have been able to capture the change in urban landscape as well as the social and cultural change of The City. One great example of a New York City Landmark that has appeared in many films is the Empire State Building. Although I see the amazing landmark everyday on my walk to Baruch, I often take for granted the amount of movie scenes that have been shot with the Empire State Building.

Current View of NYC Skyline

From romantic films using the overview from the landmark, to movies like King Kong (1933) and Independence Day (1996) where the beautiful building gets destroyed help to show the versatility of the Empire State Building as a movie scene. One of the most famous movie scenes occurs when King Kong scales the side of the building. As Kong reaches the peak of the building, an overview of the City can be seen, as it was visualized in 1933. Independence Day also has multiple scenes of the overview of the City, as it was visualized in 1996. However, when comparing the scenes of these two classics, one can quickly realize how much the City of New York has continued to develop. Between the years of 1933 to 1996, there were approximately another 50 skyscrapers built in New York City.

NYC Skyline via King Kong (1933)

NYC Skyline via Independence Day (1996)

These changes not only go to show the importance of looking to movies to see the change in our major cities, but it more importantly shows that New York City is constantly evolving, physically and culturally. These changes to the landscape also had vast changes to the economic and social aspect of the city. Many of the new buildings that were built between 1933 and 1996 are financial institutions used by thousands of people and workers every day. Tourists now have more places to stay as multiple luxury hotels were built and the need for jobs in these new buildings have strengthened the New York local economy. Overall, we realize that as New York City continues to build new buildings, it is also building new cultures all while strengthening the traditions held by previous generations of New Yorkers before it.

– Abishek Johnson

One of the most iconic aspects of New York City is its skyline. In the 21st century, this image is wrought with soaring skyscrapers and modern architecture. These features define the city as we know it, but in years past, sleek lines and high-tech innovations were mere whispers of the future. As it inevitably arrived, the future ushered in millions of different architectural styles and often, past ones were erased. Many buildings, however, remained and continue to stand until today. What makes Manhattan so unique, though, is that the buildings of the past stand right next to the buildings of a present, creating a visual representation of an ever changing society and world. What lies behind the facades is the history of New York culture and, ultimately, its change over the centuries.

Building by Jean Nouvel

Some of my favorite buildings, which happen to illustrate this narrative quite well, lie along the West-Side Highway. Iconic buildings that define a modern era, like the Jean Nouvel and Frank Ghery buildings, are mere blocks away from the decrepit warehouses once used during the height of the early 20th century. All around the city, there are little pockets that span entire eras. Moving between those pockets allows for a sort of passing through history. Looking at the plans, an art form in itself as they were drawn up by hand long before machinery, from the original Penn Station (because the actual building is no longer standing) and the photographs of the tenements on the Lower East Side were two completely different experiences. One was created when grandiose was celebrated in the Beaux-Arts styles, but as times changed, so did necessity. No longer were people looking for massive spaces of beauty and splendor, urbanization called for practicality, something that led to huge changes on the city scape. Looking at the architecture of today, clean lines and minimalist spaces are favored over the scrollwork and details of the past. Yet, this is today’s architecture, for as the city continues to change, the future will likely bring in a whole new realm of art in the cityscape. 

Looking around at the different buildings around New York City creates a narrative of the past. Some aspects are things to be proud of: the majesty of the New York Public Library and innovations of museums like the Guggenheim. Yet, the architecture alludes to something beyond the facade and bright lights the world is accustomed to. Dilapidated housing and cramped living spaces sheds light on a time that darkens a seemingly glorious path. Has society failed to protect its people and instead, cast those looked down upon into dingy shadows? If the walls of New York City could talk, what would they say? Each an every person has the ability to see beyond the physical structures and truly look into the history behind the architectural styles of Manhattan. Each style and each building speaks volumes about an era, be it when it started, what influenced it, and why it came to an end. Ultimately, these buildings create a timeline so essential to the history of New York City and its development.

Grace Kassin

I always found that one of the best ways to experience a culture is through its cuisine. One of the most exciting things about traveling to a new place is experiencing that cultures pallet. It’s so interesting to me how in different regions of the world, food is spiced in such a different way. Each culture or country has its unique trademark dish; Middle Eastern rice’s, American hot dogs, Italian pizza, or Mediterranean salad are only a few examples.

I never considered cuisine or restaurants as a way to analyze the city’s change. However, when I saw the New York Public Library’s archive of menus, I realized that analyzing these menus could be rather informative. Once I started looking through the menus, I noticed how the menu had evolved from the early 1900s until what it is today.

First, I took note of the locations of the restaurants. Many of the earlier menus were from hotels. The Long Beach Hotel Menu 1900, Waldorf Astoria 1915, or Claremont Hotel, 1900 are a few examples. It seemed to me that dining out was considered a luxurious activity enjoyed by the upper-class society of New York. People did not go out casually just to eat, one had to have money in order to be wined and dined. As I looked at the dates I noticed that beginning in the 1940s-1960s, cafés, diners and parlors became more popular. Wealthy and elite excursions were beginning to become more affordable for the middle class. Slowly, a breakdown between classes was becoming more apparent throughout society.

Aside from locations of the restaurants, I browsed through the different options they offered. At the Waldorf Astoria 1915 hotel restaurant, many European dishes were offered. For example, German apple cake or French Croute-au-pot (I have no idea what that is!). However, in a restaurant like Roth’s Bar and Grill 1946, the options seemed less exotic and fancy. Chopped chicken liver and tuna fish with sliced tomatoes is quite average in comparison to unpronounceable French entrees.

Today in 2017, I walk around the city and it seems like almost every other four doors is a restaurant. What I find fascinating is that there are so many different types of restaurants, offering NYC with an array of choices when it comes to ordering food. There are poki bowl restaurants, sushi bars, steak houses, Thai food and good old American Fried chicken. When I looked at these menus, the only “foreign” dishes I saw were of European origin. There were no sushi or Spanish rice options. This makes sense because most of the immigrants that came to America were of European descent who brought a taste of their home with them to NYC. However, now NYC is like the melting pot of the world. I often hear French, Spanish, Hebrew or Arabic as I walk through the streets of NYC. Each pool of immigrants has brought as taste of their countries with them, making NYC one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.

Food: a vital source to a person’s survival. Not only do we, humans, rely on food, but even our surroundings seem to be centered on the creation, distribution, and consumption of food. New York City is one of the biggest meccas of food culture. The city’s infrastructure, culture, demographic, and economic aspects have changed and evolved around such food culture.

After examining the “What’s on the menu?” source, I’ve realized how much New York City has evolved to what it is today. Back in the 1850s, many of New York City’s menu revolved around the accessibility to travelers and the upper-class. Much of these menus were either near the ports thus served fish and other shell fish dishes, or they were served in hotels and other housing facilities for such travelers. These eateries were heavily focused on the traveling visitor as well as the upper class. A lot of these menus were taken from high class hotels and “houses” thus showing how the lower class either relied on home-cooked meals and other amenities such as that. Restaurants weren’t meant for the lower class thus they only accommodated for the upper class and other business travelers coming in and out of the city’s ports.

As shown above, this is an example of a menu from the New York Hotel from 1859. The food selection seems very simple and straight to the point. These meals are geared for the traveler thus they need to be simple and easy to eat in order for the traveler to finish their business as quickly as they could to continue their tasks. Extravagance and variations weren’t present in food at this time and only started to develop during the 1950s.

As time progressed to the present, menus and the city’s food culture had evolved and developed immensely. Unlike the past, food diversified along with the people that now reside in the city. Now we see a multitude of different foods from different cultures. Restaurants and food have developed into a leisure activity and for enjoyment of the eater. No longer do we see restaurants only geared toward the traveler and upper-class. The middle-class is heavily targeted when developing restaurants we see today. Food has evolved to a new complex form with many different styles, flavors, and cultures. This then shows how much the city has diversified among its people in class, culture, and infrastructure. No longer is the city heavily influenced by the ports structure and accommodating for the traveler. Food now is a leisure and pleasure activity for friends, families, workers, and anyone to sit down and enjoy the meal.

This is the menu of the oyster bar that is located inside Grand Central. Now we see prices are listed on the menu. The menu is now more descriptive and diverse in its flavors and styles. You can see that they even incorporated different cultures into similar meals thus further showing how much the city has developed culturally and socially.

Food culture in New York City now focuses on anyone and everyone. Through food we can see how the city has diversified in its culture among its residents as well as the change in infrastructure.

Claire Ng

The television show Seinfeld is one of my favorite shows that I can watch over ad over again. The fact that the show is based in New York not only makes me love the show even more but makes it close to my heart. The iconic diner that the characters in the show are always visiting is located in New York on 112th and Broadway. The fact that this diner is located in New York is something that is so cool to me. In the show, the diner is a place where Elaine, Kramer, Jerry and George meet up regularly to talk and discuss the dramatic things that are always going on in their lives. They bring their dates and friends there to talk and hangout whenever they free time. It is a comfortable place that the characters who have such hectic lives take a minute to sit, relax and enjoy each other’s company.

Seinfeld began playing in 1989. The diner that was a focal point of the show since 1989 is still up and running now in 2017. New York City has changed drastically since 1989, but that one diner that was open so long ago continues to open its doors today. The physical structure has remained the same all of these years but other aspects of the city have sadly changed. In the show, the New York City streets were always filled with people walking together or having lunch together whenever they could, engaging in conversation. I feel that now, New York City has changed to lose some of its sense of community. Many people walk the streets with earphones in their ears, not hearing other people around them  or talking to anyone. Everyone is in such a hurry all the time and no one ever takes the time out of their day to enjoy their journey to or from their destination. For example, people used to take the time out of their day to get coffee and spend time with one another but now if someone is taking too long to order their coffee in the morning, we become ridiculously impatient and upset. I feel like this small change in people being more involved with their own needs is reflecting upon our community as a whole. By not engaging with each other more on a daily basis, we then tend to care more about ourselves in national issues as well. It is causing us to be a less accepting and empathetic community than we used to be.

So many things in New York City have physically remained the same such as buildings, train stations and parks. But at the same time, New York has changed and lost some its core values not only physically such as the destruction of Five Points, but in how our citizens interact with each other. We have become a more individualistic society that increasingly relies less and less on each other and focuses more on our own success. This is one of the largest and most disheartening ways that New York has changed over the years. I feel that this is a simple thing to fix however, it just takes a little less focus on ourselves and more on the world around us.

I always associated urban change with something physical which could be seen as buildings, art, and even movies. But, what never came to my mind was how music, a nonphysical item, could represent New York urban change over the past 60-70 years. The music list presented was very interesting because I saw the change of society even in the titles but what spoke to me was Frank Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York” and Jay Z “Empire State of Mind”. As a kid, I grew up with both songs because both my parents love Frank Sinatra and I like listening to Jay Z. Although I never noticed the urban change relationship between the two I know the lyrics of both well which allows me to create such a connection and relationship between the two.

Frank Sinatras song mainly presents the New York attitude at the time. This attitude was that you could make it anywhere if you could make it in New York and how we have a gritty attitude. Furthermore, he drills in your head the famous NEW YORK so people around the world recognize the city even though the 80’s it wasn’t the most pleasant time in New York. Essentially, he portrayed New York as the place that never sleeps which further expresses our gritty, aggressive and awakening attitude as well as trying to only focus on the positive aspect of New York rather than the negatives of the city. Furthermore, the music style was very different as opposed to Empire State of MInd which is shown in the slow tempo of Sinatra’s New York as opposed to a rap and Alicia Keys singing the chorus. He shows New York in an artificial reality where there is only positive and delight with the city. Furthermore, both songs represent the strong economic situation that we have yet, Empire State of Mind sheds light on some of the troubles that people face but one could overcome this because we are in New York.

I see Empire State of Mind as a continuation of Frank Sinatra’s New York song. Immediately, the song starts with “I’m the new Sinatra” showing how we always think we are the “better generation”. Additionally, the whole first verse describes the culture which wasn’t necessarily recognized in the 80’s. As a New Yorker, I take pride in the diversity of culture and how many things there is to do in the great New York. Jay Z describes the different sports teams, people, and even places in his son. Although Alecia Keys says this is still the place where “dreams are made of” just like Sinatra’s song she also focuses on the negative part of New York calling it a “concrete jungle”. This comes to show how we don’t adapt to others and we are here to stay, thereby, furthering the attitude of our inspiration, greatness, and permanence as a people. The final difference which is shown in both songs is that New York is mentioned twice in the chorus of Sinatra while three times in Empire State of Mind. This shows our growing love as a society for the city which we live in.  We take pride in both songs of our attitudes and lights, yet, Sinatra only focuses on the positive while in the Empire State of Mind, Jay Z focuses on both positive and negative aspects of our city. This shows our awareness of our problems nowadays as opposed to concealing the problems of the 1980’s. The New York wouldn’t be the great diverse place which it is today if weren’t for the past adversities that we have overcome and our recognition as a society.

By: Alon Bezalel

Today, I went with my Macaulay class to the New York Historical Society where I looked at photographs, architectural designs and books that allowed me to visualize the ways that New York City has changed over time. I saw through photographs what the old Penn Station used to look like before being destroyed in order to make a new building. I saw through architectural designs how the New York City wanted to build another bridge into the city but couldn’t because they didn’t have enough money due to the great depression. Lastly, I saw through books that a group of New Yorkers wanted to fill the Hudson River, but was outvoted. These changes or would have been changes led me to research how much New York City has changed over the years.

I thought about how these sources are only a few of many sources one can use to track historical changes in urban structures and social relations in New York City. A source I found extremely fascinating was the different types of movies set in New York City that were filmed in the late 20^th century versus early 21^st century. This source led me to the conclusion of the change of focus in movies set in New York City from the 20^th century to the 21^st century is a microcosm to the larger, economic, demographic, social and cultural shifts in New York City.

In the late 20^th century, movies staged in New Yok City framed the city as a place of danger, crime and corruption. Movies, such as Al Pachino Serpico (1973), Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) and Fort Apache (1981), are staged to represent a different type of New York City then it is now. Al Pachino Serpico, based on a true story, is about an idealistic New York City police officer who refuses to take bribes, unlike the rest of the cops. Hence the word idealistic because New York City was a corrupt place. The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) is a movie about a New York City criminal gang that hijacks a subway and threatens to shoot innocent civilians in exchange for a ransom. Fascinatingly, behind the scenes, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority was unwilling to cooperate with the making of this movie as they feared a real hijacking could actually occur due to the high criminal rate in New York City. To further this point, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority only allowed the filmmakers to make this movie once the filmmakers paid them for hijack insurance as well as a payment of $250,000 for usage of the subway. Lastly, Fort Apache (1981) is about a cop who struggles to keep a sense of moral decency despite his colleagues’ crueler methods in a notoriously dangerous area of the Bronx and New York City.

Early 21^st century movies such as The Black Swan (2010), Whiplash (2014) and Trainwreck (2015), have a much different focus of New York City than the late 20^th century movies did. The Black Swan (2010) is a movie about a ballet dancer that seeks a friend/rival in the midst of a competitive lead role for a production. The movie captures the New York City’s beautiful buildings and areas such as the Lincoln Center and Broadway, the heart of the performance arts. Whiplash (2014) is about a young and ambitious jazz drummer and aspires to be the best drummer in his prestigious music group. This movie, like the Black Swan (2010), captures the fierce competitiveness and extreme talent in New York City, not the violence.  It frames New York City, as a place where numerous musicians and bands come to achieve their dream and launch their careers. Lastly, Trainwreck (2015) is an excellent depiction of New York City’s dating scene being difficult to navigate. Unlike Whiplash and Black Swan, Trainwreck pokes fun at personal dating issues within the City. These extreme contrasts of focus in the movies from the 20^th century to the 21^st century, of corruption and crime issues to issues among competitive art performances and a difficult love life, exemplify the significant urban change of New York City.

Andrew Langer

21st Century Movies                                              20th Century Movies

Black Swan (2010)

Fort Apache (1981)

Trainwreck (2015)

Al Pachino Serpico (1973),

Whiplash (2014)

Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)