Mars on Madison Avenue: How ‘For All Mankind’ Captures New York’s Lost Space Race Ambitions

On this Monday morning, as Midtown office towers glint in the late-May sun, Apple TV+’s ‘For All Mankind’ returns with a new season that’s as much about New York’s dreams as it is about distant planets. Set largely on Mars, the series has found a loyal following among city dwellers who see their own ambitions—and disappointments—mirrored in its alternate-history narrative.

The creators, Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi, have made no secret of their fascination with what might have been if America had kept its eyes on the stars. ‘This season, we wanted to ask, what if the space race didn’t end? What would it mean to wake up in a world where the impossible felt routine?’ Nedivi told Made in NYC during a recent Soho screening. In their vision, the U.S. never went through the malaise that followed the end of Apollo; instead, NASA’s Manhattan offices buzz with activity, and Mars-bound flights lift off with the same frequency as the 7 train.

That speculative energy resonates in city circles primed for a fresh beginning. At the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium, weekend crowds this month have surged, with visitors drawn to both the show’s vision and the museum’s own Mars-adjacent programming. ‘There’s a hunger for what the future could look like—especially in a city where everyone’s hustling for the next big thing,’ says Dr. Emily Rios, an astrophysicist who leads public tours.

But the show’s greatest trick might be using its fictional Mars colony as a stand-in for the city itself. In the alternate 2000s depicted this season, Lower Manhattan’s skyline is dotted with mission control centers, not luxury condos. The narrative lingers on the sacrifices—missed birthdays, long commutes, last-minute pivots—that New Yorkers know all too well.

As the school year winds down and the city’s festival season heats up, ‘For All Mankind’ taps into a collective spring restlessness: the sense that, with enough will, New Yorkers could still reach for the stars. On Mars or on Madison, it’s the same old dream—just with a different sky.