New York Non-Fiction: A 30-Year Retrospective

Rejecting the centuries-long cult of the genius artist, Azikiwe Mohammed embraces the modest, the eclectic, and above all the helpful.

In 1890, a wealthy eccentric named Eugene Schieffelin collected every bird ever mentioned by Shakespeare and released them into Central Park. The only one to survive in the New World was the European Starling, now among the commonest – and most despised – birds in America. The Commoners is an essay film about European Starlings, poetry, the rhetorical relationship between nationalism and environmentalism, and the paths people forge through history as they attempt to improve the natural world.

Grand Luncheonette documents the final days of one of Time Square's unforgettable lunch counters. The closing of Fred Hakim's 42nd Street hot dog stand marks the final phase of the much publicized gentrification of the neighborhood.

The inimitable John Wilson takes us on a walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

An intimate look at the NYC subway and the thousands of items and people that get lost in its tunnels.

A gritty and graceful portrait of one of NYC's fastest and freshest, Alfred Bobe Jr. Featuring interviews while cruising through traffic, this documentary is as daring as the rider himself.

Building the screen by hand in the early days of Rooftop Films.

This 2003 Sundance Jury Prize winner for short film explores the customers who frequented the Terminal Bar, a down-and-out watering hole in Times Square across the street from the Port Authority. Sheldon Nadelman, the bartender, shot over 1,500 black and white portraits during his ten year stint there from 1972-1982. The bar was owned by Murray Goldman, Sheldon's father-in-law.