The expansion of the land area of Lower Manhattan in New York City by land reclamation has, over time, greatly altered Manhattan Island's shorelines on the Hudson and East rivers; as well as those of the Upper New York Bay. The extension of the island began with European colonialization and continued in the 20th century. [2] [3] Incremental encroachment as well as major infrastructure have added acreage to the island. Since the passage of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 all projects which extend into navigable waterways follow federal regulation and are overseen by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. [4]
The original shoreline on the East Side generally ran along contemporary Pearl and Cherry streets and on the West Side was roughly today's Greenwich Street. [4] Encroachment began in the 17th-century Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. [2] The real estate law mechanism of water lots encouraged commercial land growth through the Dongan Charter of 1686 and the Montgomerie Charter of 1731. [5] By the 19th century 137 acres (55 ha) of land had been created by landfill, the disposal of waste. [6] By the early 20th century the expansion had obliterated the extensive oyster beds which once covered much of the estuary floor. [7] [8] It is estimated that by the 1970s, 1400 to 2225 acres of the entire Manhattan landmass, has been created by reclamation. [4] Another estimate is that 3,000 acres, or 29% of the entire land area, had been created by reclamation. [9]
In the 21st century, largely in response to Hurricane Sandy (2012) and to a lesser degree Hurricane Ida (2021), projects along the shoreline have been proposed as part of climate change adaptation to mitigate the effects to Manhattan Island by improved resilience. [10] Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency programs, which involve fortifying and extending the shoreline, are being implemented.
Proposals for expansion encompassing Governors Island, which lies off the southern tip of Manhattan, have circulated since the early 20th century. [11]
In 1683, the British built platforms of dirt off the island's southern tip for military defense, and again in 1735 as the Copsey Battery. [9] [13] The remains of Fort George/Amsterdam was used for expansion of the Battery in 1788.
Castle Clinton was built on a small artificial island just off shore. [14] Construction began in 1808 and the fort was completed in 1811, [15] though modifications continued through the 1820s. [16] The Battery was mostly created by landfill starting from 1855, using earth from street-widening projects in Lower Manhattan which united Castle Garden's island with the "mainland" of Manhattan. The original shoreline is roughly the modern-day park's eastern boundary at State Street.
FDR Drive was built along the East River shore in the 1930s using embankments and pilings.
East River Park was built on landfill. In December 2019, the New York City Council voted to approve the controversial $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project, [17] involving the park's complete demolition and subsequent renovation. [18] [19]
In the 1960s–1970s, landfill was used in the creation of 92 acres (37 ha) that comprise Battery Park City. The initial 24 acres (9.7 ha) utilized 1.2 million cubic yards (0.92×10 6 m3) of material from excavations for the construction of the original World Trade Center [20] [21] [14] Additional fill came from other construction projects such as New York City Water Tunnel and the dredging of the Kill Van Kull.
The East River waterfront shifted to Water Street in 1730, Front Street in 1780, and finally, South Street in 1800. [22]
In 2013, then-mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a "Seaport City" similar to Battery Park City for the area around the South Street Seaport. [23] In 2019, as part of part of plan to mitigate potential damage due to climate change to South Street Seaport and the Financial District, his successor Bill de Blasio proposed creating upwards of 500 feet (150 m) of land reclamation from South Street into the East River south the Brooklyn Bridge. [24] [25]
In 2021, the City of New York introduced the Financial District-Seaport (FidiSeaport) Resilience Plan for a 0.9-mile (1.4 km) stretch of what is seen as the most complicated and vulnerable reach of shoreline in Lower Manhattan. Construction would incorporate floodwalls, floodgates, pumps, and other water management techniques to handle tidal flow, flooding and stormwater and extend 90 feet (27 m) to 200 feet (61 m) into the river. [10] [26] [27]
Gansevoort Peninsula, located in what is now known as the Meatpacking District at the northern end of Greenwich Village, was originally a spit of land jutting into the Hudson River. The North Battery was an artillery battery built 1808–1811 in the river, connected by a bridge and jetty/breakwater to Hubert Street. Fort Gansevoort was completed in 1812 between Gansevoort Street and West 12th Street. [28] Thirteenth Avenue was created 1837 by landfill.
West Washington Market was created in 1887. New York City solved the problem in an unusual way by actually taking away a block of land that was the 1837 landfill that extended Manhattan to 13th Avenue. The controversial decision included condemning many businesses. The city was unable to condemn the West Washington Street Market, which remained a landfill. The market ultimately closed and the dock was converted to a sanitation facility that was used to load garbage barges headed for the Fresh Kills Landfill. The only section of 13th Avenue that remained was behind the sanitation facility. In 2016, the city began demolishing the Department of Sanitation building as part of a plan for the creation of a new public park on the land. [29] Little Island at Pier 55 is just to the north.
Canadian-American engineer T. Kennard Thomson first made an expansive proposal for "A Really Greater New York" in 1911, incorporating a lower Manhattan expansion into Governors Island (at that time undergoing land reclamation itself) as "New Manhattan", as well as other ambitious designs such as new Lower New York Bay islands, and filling in and creating new rivers. [11] [30] [31] One of his goals was to halt the historical march uptown, which was seen as detrimental to downtown businesses. Thomson made different versions of this idea through the years, forming a "Manhattan Extension" corporation in 1921 with support from prominent former judge and presidential candidate Alton B. Parker as well as the artist Walter Russell, [32] [33] [34] [35] and continuing advocacy for the rest of his life. [36]
A century after Thomson's initial idea, a 2011 proposal by Vishaan Chakrabarti, a professor at Columbia University's Center for Urban Real Estate, suggested using land fill to connect lower Manhattan and Governors Island, so creating a new neighborhood referred to as "LoLo" (Lower Lower Manhattan). [11] Chakrabarti and others pointed out challenges to the proposal, which include cost, the strict regulations surrounding building with landfill, and the potential environmental effects of the project. [37] The proposal was revisited in 2015 by author Jon Methven of The Awl , in which he referred to the proposed borough as "Frankenborough". [38] [39]
A 2022 proposal along these lines by Rutgers University urban economist Jason Barr called for a "New Mannahatta". [40] [41] This proposal was criticized by Willy Blackmore in Curbed on environmental grounds. [42]
Battery Park City is a mainly residential 92-acre (37 ha) planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north and south, and the West Side Highway on the east. The neighborhood is named for the Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, located directly to the south.
North River is an alternative name for the southernmost portion of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City and northeastern New Jersey in the United States.
Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York, is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business and culture. The neighborhood is the historical birthplace and serves as the seat of government of New York City. Because there are no municipally defined boundaries for the neighborhood, a precise population cannot be quoted, but several sources have suggested that it was one of the fastest-growing locations in New York City between 2010 and 2020, related to the influx of young adults and significant development of new housing units.
The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and commonly referred to as the Battery Tunnel or Battery Park Tunnel, is a tolled tunnel in New York City that connects Red Hook in Brooklyn with the Battery in Manhattan. The tunnel consists of twin tubes that each carry two traffic lanes under the mouth of the East River. Although it passes just offshore of Governors Island, the tunnel does not provide vehicular access to the island. With a length of 9,117 feet (2,779 m), it is the longest continuous underwater vehicular tunnel in North America.
The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a 5.42-mile-long (8.72 km) mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. It replaced the West Side Elevated Highway, built between 1929 and 1951, which was shut down in 1973 due to neglect and lack of maintenance, and was dismantled by 1989. North of 72nd Street the roadway continues north as the Henry Hudson Parkway.
U Thant Island is a small artificial island or islet in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The 100-by-200-foot island, created during the construction of the Steinway Tunnel directly underneath, is the smallest island in Manhattan.
Pearl Street is a street in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, running northeast from Battery Park to the Brooklyn Bridge with an interruption at Fulton Street, where Pearl Street's alignment west of Fulton Street shifts one block south of its alignment east of Fulton Street, then turning west and terminating at Centre Street.
17 State Street is a 42-story office building along State Street and Battery Park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1988, it was designed by Roy Gee for Emery Roth and Sons for developers William Kaufman Organization and JMB Realty. The building is shaped like a quarter round, with a curved glass facade facing New York Harbor. At ground level, large aluminum columns surround a lobby and elevator hall. Next to the lobby was a public exhibition space called "New York Unearthed", which was operated by the South Street Seaport Museum from 1990 to 2005. The building has a total floor area of 525,000 sq ft (48,800 m2); each story was designed for small tenants.
The Battery Park Underpass is a vehicular tunnel at the southernmost tip of Manhattan, New York City, near the neighborhoods of South Ferry and Battery Park City. The tunnel connects FDR Drive, which runs along the east side of Manhattan Island, with the West Side Highway, which runs along the island's west side. Opened in 1951, it was the second section of the FDR Drive to be completed. The underpass crosses beneath the Battery and the approach to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel.
South Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, located immediately adjacent to the East River. It runs from Whitehall Street near the southern tip of Manhattan to Jackson Street near the Williamsburg Bridge. The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, in an elevated portion known as the South Street Viaduct, runs along the entire length of the street.
Beekman Place is a small street located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Running from north to south for two blocks, the street is situated between the eastern end of 51st Street and Mitchell Place, where it ends at a retaining wall above 49th Street, overlooking the glass apartment towers at 860 and 870 United Nations Plaza, just north of the headquarters of the United Nations. "Beekman Place" also refers to the small residential enclave that surrounds the street itself. It is named after the Beekman family, who were influential in New York City's development.
The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway is a waterfront greenway for walking or cycling, 32 miles (51 km) long, around the island of Manhattan, in New York City. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separated from motor traffic, and many sections also separate pedestrians from cyclists. There are three principal parts — the East, Harlem and Hudson River Greenways.
Pier A, also known as City Pier A, is a pier in the Hudson River at Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It was built from 1884 to 1886 as the headquarters of the New York City Board of Dock Commissioners and the New York City Police Department (NYPD)'s Harbor Department. Pier A, the only remaining masonry pier in New York City, contains a two- and three-story structure with a clock tower facing the Hudson River. The pier is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
The Battery Maritime Building is a building at South Ferry on the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City. Located at 10 South Street, near the intersection with Whitehall Street, it contains an operational ferry terminal at ground level, as well as a hotel and event space on the upper stories. The ground story contains three ferry slips that are used for excursion trips and ferries to Governors Island, as well as commuter trips to Port Liberté, Jersey City. The upper stories contain the Cipriani South Street event space, operated by Cipriani S.A., and a 47-room hotel called Casa Cipriani.
The Whitehall Building is a three-section residential and office building near the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, adjacent to Battery Park in lower Manhattan. The original 20-story structure on Battery Place, between West Street and Washington Street, was designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, while the 31-story Whitehall Building Annex on West Street was designed by Clinton and Russell. The original building and annex are both at 17 Battery Place. Another 22-story addition at 2 Washington Street, an International Style building located north of the original building and east of the annex, was designed by Morris Lapidus.
The Whitehall Terminal is a ferry terminal in the South Ferry section of Lower Manhattan, New York City, at the corner of South Street and Whitehall Street. It is used by the Staten Island Ferry, which connects the island boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island. The Whitehall Terminal is one of the ferry's two terminals, the other being St. George Terminal on Staten Island.
The East River Greenway is an approximately 9.44-mile-long (15.19 km) foreshoreway for walking or cycling on the east side of the island of Manhattan on the East River. It is part of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. The largest portions are operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is separated from motor traffic, and many sections also separate pedestrians from cyclists. The greenway is parallel to the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive for a majority of its length.
The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a 25-acre (10 ha) public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, with Bowling Green to the northeast, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. The park contains attractions such as an early 19th-century fort named Castle Clinton; multiple monuments; and the SeaGlass Carousel. The surrounding area, known as South Ferry, contains multiple ferry terminals, including the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal; a boat launch to the Statue of Liberty National Monument ; and a boat launch to Governors Island.
Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza is a public park in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. formed by the triangular junction of Trinity Place, Greenwich Street and Edgar Street. It faces the Manhattan exit ramp from the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. Formerly known as the Edgar Street Greenstreet, this park honors civic advocate Elizabeth H. Berger (1960-2013). In her role as president of the Downtown Alliance, she advocated for the fusion of two traffic triangles at this location into an expanded park. The park is located on the site of a former neighborhood known as Little Syria, a bustling immigrant community displaced by the construction of the tunnel in 1953.
Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) refers to a range of climate change adaptation strategies of coastal management to address impacts on the city in the wake of the extensive Hurricane Sandy flooding of 2012.
In 1613...the present location of Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan is the historic shoreline of the east side of the island...By the late 1600's the City began a process of landfill to extend the island into the East River. By 1730, the eastern edge of Lower Manhattan reached Water Street and by 1780 the island extended to Front Street. South Street was the next and last extension of the infill in 1800