This video revisits the construction of New York City’s early skyscrapers in the early 20th century, a time when safety standards as we know them today simply didn’t exist. Workers climbed steel beams high above the city with little more than experience and balance to protect them. The footage highlights the extreme risks these laborers faced daily — eating lunch on beams, walking narrow girders, and working without harnesses or protective gear. Despite the danger, their work laid the foundation

Restored footage from 1903 of a view of the New York City skyline from a moving boat on the Hudson River (North River). This footage was taken on May 10th, 1903 by camera operator James Blair Smith on behalf of Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated. You can see various famous New York buildings and early skyscrapers such as the American Surety Building, Trinity Church, and the Bowling Green Building. This was before many of the most famous skyscrapers of New York were built such as the Empire State Bui