Evolution of New York: 417 Years in 3D | City Timelapse 1609–2026

Watch New York grow from Lenape land in 1609 to today's skyline: 417 years in 8 minutes, rebuilt in 3D from real map data and researched history. Which city should we rebuild next? Please comment under the video - we will build the most requested one. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/citiesthroughtime3d 0:00 From space to 2026, then back to 1609 0:19 1609 Mannahatta 0:35 1664 Colonial New York 1:05 1775 Revolution And Occupation 1:34 1825 The Empire City 2:10 1858 Crystal Palace fire 2:22 1865 The Gilded Age 3:16 1898 Greater New York 4:05 1912 Equitable Life Building fire 4:25 1920 The Jazz Age 4:43 1930 Chrysler Building 5:07 1946 The Postwar Boom 5:25 1963 MetLife Building (Pan Am) 5:37 1973 World Trade Center 6:01 1990 The Nineties 6:12 September 11, 2001 7:18 2014 One World Trade Center 7:29 2019 30 Hudson Yards 7:41 2022 Steinway Tower HOW THIS WAS MADE Every building footprint comes from OpenStreetMap (168,166 buildings in this area). 134,371 of them rise in the year official records give for them; the others are estimated from when each neighbourhood was built up. Landmarks, events, eras and population figures are researched; 62 milestones, each with its sources listed below. The 3D city is rendered from map data, not AI-generated footage. The shoreline changes as the land reclaimed from the water is filled in. CREDITS Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL (openstreetmap.org/copyright) Building years: NYC MapPLUTO, NYC Department of City Planning. Opening zoom: Google Earth (Google Earth Studio). Music: original score generated with Google Lyria (AI); sound effects generated with ElevenLabs. Photo (Ground Zero, 16 September 2001): U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Aaron Peterson · public domain – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US... Photo (The wall of the missing, New York, 13 September 2001): Photo by Andrea Booher / FEMA · public domain – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FE... Photo (memorial background): Sgt. Randall A. Clinton · Public domain – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tr... SOURCES Henry Hudson – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hudson New Amsterdam – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Amsterdam Amsterdam Fort (New York) – Atlas of Mutual Heritage: https://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl/page/... Stadt Huys Site – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadt_Huys_Site Wall Street – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street The Dutch & the English, Part 3: Construction of the Wall, 1653–1663 – NYC Department of Records: https://archives.nyc/blog/2017/3/9/the-dut... Trinity Church (Manhattan) – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Chur...) Federal Hall – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Hall Fraunces Tavern – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraunces_Tavern St. Paul's Chapel – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul%27s... Great Fire of New York (1776) – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_o...) New York City – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City Buttonwood Agreement – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttonwood_A... Land reclamation in Lower Manhattan – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reclama... Skyscraper Museum – Wall Street: the East End (landfill): https://old.skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/WAL... New York's Original Seaport – Archaeology Magazine (Sept/Oct 2015): https://archaeology.org/issues/september-o... Collect Pond – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collect_Pond Commissioners' Plan of 1811 – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioner... New York City Hall – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cit... Brooklyn Heights – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Hei... Great Fire of New York (1835) – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_o...) New York Crystal Palace – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cry... Central Park – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park Equitable Life Building (Manhattan) – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Li...) Equitable Building (Manhattan) – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Bu...) St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan) – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick'...) (more sources in the pinned comment)