New York: America's Busiest City

The opening night of a three-night stripped event revealing the astonishing daily systems that allow America's biggest and busiest city to function. Anita Rani, Ade Adepitan, Ant Anstead and Dan Snow are in New York. From their base at Grand Central Terminal, they reveal the behind-the-scenes operations responsible for keeping the world's biggest railway terminal running to schedule. In this opening episode, Anita, Ade and Ant try commuting New York style, joining 5.5 million commuters on the iconic Staten Island ferry, the subway and citibikes. Ant visits the East Side Access and gets a privileged first glimpse of the new station beneath Grand Central. Ade takes a ride in a yellow cab and discovers that a taxi license can cost up to $1 million. Dan Snow heads to Times Square to discover how the 230 LED advertising hoardings are maintained. And we reveal the secret world of lost property at the terminal, where 3,000 items are handed in every month.