Treasures of New York

Hosted by Morley Safer, Sigourney Weaver, Pete Hamill, and Tom Brokaw, among others, this PBS-aired seven-part series takes viewers behind closed doors to lesser known landmarks within New York City. The Roosevelt House—home of FDR and Eleanor for 24 years—was built by the future president's domineering mother, who lived in an adjoining wing. This historic site, which later served as a gathering place for college social functions, now houses a public policy center. The Hearst Tower is a relative newcomer, built on the foundations of pioneering muckraker William Randolph Hearst's headquarters. Completed in 2006, this soaring masterpiece of glass and steel is the center of the global Hearst media empire, and includes the famous Good Housekeeping test laboratories. The Park Avenue Armory, once serving as a home away from home for upper class military officers during the Gilded Age, now performs multiple functions, most notably as a venue for avant-garde art and theatrical productions in the huge former drill hall. The New-York Historical Society—over 200 years old—is both an architectural marvel and the repository of some of the city and nation's most precious documents and artifacts. The Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, founded by the "Robin Hood of the robber barons," progressed quickly from teaching a few drawing students to becoming an influential and affordable college for the working class (Pratt also offered one of the nation's first library schools). Finally, the American Museum of Natural History, with its memorable dioramas, and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx are perennially popular, attracting both tourists and scholars (the Botanical Garden's herbarium features rare items originally collected by Charles Darwin and Captain James Cook). Many of the sites featured here offer a tribute to philanthropy, sharing a common history of overcoming financial stress and neglect only to re-emerge as institutions that help educate and inspire. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)