Episode 1

The first part of this three-part series 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 - the latest addition to the transport network.

Ant heads ten storeys down to visit the USA's biggest transport project, 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 licence can cost up to $1 million. And today, this business model is under threat from taxi apps like Uber.

Dan Snow heads to Times Square, New York's most-visited place, 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, from phones to seven-foot long canoes, are handed in every month.