Our Changing Coastline

Our Changing Coastline. . , City maps reveal how much New York City’s shorelines have been altered by human intervention over the years. Natural bends in the river have been straightened by engineering projects which extended Manhattan Island, while oyster beds and outcroppings were removed to improve marine navigation. As a result, the East River has transformed into the streamlined, fast-flowing waterway we’re familiar with today. Which parts of the shoreline do you think have changed the most?, Land Fill , City engineers employed unusual methods to extend Manhattan Island into the river. Fill items included dredged river muck, animal carcasses, war rubble shipped from England, and whole ships sunk in place., A Bustling Port , East River piers of the 19th and early 20th centuries buzzed with near constant shipping traffic. Neighborhood boys, facing overcrowded public baths, often took dips in the river; and in the evening “night soil men” would collect the city’s waste to be dumped from the piers., A Bay No More , A natural East River cove called “Turtle Bay” once captivated author Edgar Allen Poe, who also took afternoon swims in its calm waters. Turtle Bay was filled in after the Civil War and is now the site of the United Nations Headquarters., Historic Habitat Loss , Valuable natural features like wetlands and oyster reefs were destroyed in the processes of expanding the island and streamlining the river to aid ship traffic. The removal of this protective habitat left Manhattan more vulnerable to the ravages of extreme weather and flooding.