The film will be available to stream beginning Monday, Aug. 18, 2025 - Nov. 16, 2025 with the PBS app
POV presents "Emergent City," a story about the rise of civic engagements in American democracy with the residents of a single Brooklyn community facing affordable housing pressures and the onslaught of new development proposals; factors that risk transforming their neighborhood for good. The documentary follows the residents of Sunset Park throughout a decade-long fight for the future of the district–and of New York City itself.
"Emergent City" features residents of Sunset Park facing a tangled web of rising rents, a legacy of environmental racism, and the loss of the industrial jobs that once sustained their community.
When a global developer purchases Industry City — a massive industrial complex on the waterfront — and begins to transform it into an “innovation district,” a battle erupts over the future of the neighborhood and of New York City itself.
"Emergent City" is a meticulously crafted civic epic that gives viewers a front-row seat to the public and private spaces where the city is shaped. With extraordinary access, the film tracks an ensemble of participants, including the local council members, Industry City’s developers, and community members with divergent stakes.
The film explores the profound intersections of gentrification, climate crisis, and real estate development and asks how change might emerge from dialogue and collective action in a world where too many outcomes are constrained by money, politics, and business as usual.
Filmmaker Quotes:
“This is a harrowing and uncertain moment in American history. As a country, we are facing so much division and so many crises that seem insurmountable,” said producer and director Kelly Anderson. “'Emergent City' shows a community with a lot of different perspectives coming together to do the hard work of talking through differences, developing a collective vision, and fighting to make it happen.”
“The future is unwritten, but we know it will be built on the stories of what has come before. Spending time with the deeply dedicated community of Sunset Park, as it engaged for a decade to have an impact on shaping their waterfront, was inspiring. Collaborating with POV, which has so much experience bringing critical American stories to public television, feels like a perfect partnership as we honor what happened here and promote democratic engagement nationwide,” said Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, director and editor.
Watch On Your Schedule: POV "Emergent City" will be available to stream beginning Monday, Aug. 18, 2025 - Nov. 16, 2025 with the PBS app
Raves include:
“The best New York City-based documentary in a decade.”— Max Rivlin-Nadler, Hell Gate
“a vividly thrilling story about democracy”— Kathy Ou, Hyperallergic
“'Emergent City' is not a polemic, nor does it fall into the “all sides” trap of equivocation. It’s curious and patient, taking the time to understand its subject. It leaves enough wiggle room for the audience to make up its own mind, a kind of nonfiction Rorschach test to help us illuminate how we really think about everything from housing costs to climate change.”— Alan Zilberman, Washington City Paper
Credits: ITVS co-production, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in association with Meerkat Media and Realistic Pictures. Kelly Anderson and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg are the directors. The producers are Kelly Anderson and Brenda Ávila-Hanna. The cinematographers are Sean Hanley, Alex Ramirez Mallis, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg and Viola Wan. The editor is Jay Arthur Sterrenberg. Original music by Gisela Fullà Silvestre, who is also supervising sound designer and re-recording mixer. The colorist is Natacha Ikoli. The supervising producer is Michael Kinomoto. The executive producers are Steve Maing and Carrie Lozano; and Erika Dilday and Chris White for American Documentary
