As the world's financial and cultural capital, New York demands the best in innovative architectural design, balancing the pressure to build with the need to preserve the historic fabric of the city. Author Robert A. M. Stern and his colleagues trace the rise and fall of the real estate market, the impact of the designation of historic districts and new zoning on development, and the emergence of new commercial and residential centers. Organized geographically, this survey moves north from Lower Manhattan to Harlem and on to study the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.

New York 2000 documents the milestones in the city's architectural history--the development of Battery Park City, the rebirth of Harlem and Times Square, the creation of the cultural precinct around the new MoMA, the reclaiming of the waterfront along the East and Hudson Rivers as recreational parkland--and celebrates the achievements of internationally recognized architects including Sir Norman Foster, Cesar Pelli, Richard Meier, and Renzo Piano.