The Growth of New York City: Every Year

The growth of New York City from its origins as the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, to the sprawling metropolis of today.

The Growth of New York City: Every Year

Watch the incredible transformation of New York City in this captivating video that tracks its growth year by year! From a small Dutch trading post to a sprawling global metropolis, see how iconic landmarks and neighborhoods took shape over time. Follow the city's expansion through maps and stunning visuals, highlighting key events like the opening of the subway, the construction of skyscrapers, and massive waves of immigration. A must-see for history enthusiasts, urban explorers, and fans of New York City’s fascinating story!

Fun Facts & Trivia:

New York City was originally called New Amsterdam when the Dutch settled it in 1624.

The city’s first skyscraper was the Flatiron Building, completed in 1902.

The 20th century saw a population boom fueled by immigrants from around the world, making NYC a true melting pot.

Keywords: NYC history animation, New York City growth, year-by-year NYC, NYC skyline evolution, New York City time-lapse.

Notes regarding the urban area and population

1) The definition of what counts as ‘New York City’ (both its population and area) is highly subjective. This is mainly due to sprawling, low-density suburbs typical of North American cities, as well as the varying official definitions (e.g. the Five Boroughs, the Metropolitan Statistical Area, etc.) I’ve tried to portray the city’s size in a reasonable way, but it’s by no means the only way. Other maps and statistics may vary significantly from what this video shows for this reason. 

2) In the post-war era, NYC’s urban area has extended along New Jersey and Long Island beyond what is shown in the map. These are outside the map because showing them would force it to zoom to an impractically large area. These areas are still included in the population statistics where applicable, as explained in note 4.

3) The “rural area” in this video mostly consists of low-density suburbs after about 1970. They do not constitute contiguous built up areas, but rather areas of sporadic building. For this reason, they cannot be shown as urban. These areas are still included in the population statistics where applicable, as explained in note 4.

4) Post-war population figures are based on the New York–Newark–Jersey City Statistical Area. About 20% of this population lives in urban areas outside of the map, mentioned in note 2. A very approximate 5% also live in the low-density suburbs mentioned in note 3. Therefore the urban area shown in this video only contains about 75% of the population included in the 2021 population figure of 18.9m.

Source: Ollie Bye (History)