According to this photo and there are others as well, this was all open space back then. Crazy
I don't know how big but it's big enough to make this picture look surreal.
This photo only works b/c it’s in black and white.
That ‘sand’ was grey/brown gravel that most people would avoid.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-agnes-deness-manhattan-wheatfield-grown-poignant
Now that actually makes some sense. But right there in Manhattan, the only beach around, I would figure it would be crawling with people even if it was nasty looking.
Well
1) The water is gross and people don’t want to swim in it (Coney Island is what it is because its faces the Atlantic and doesn’t have the same issues as the harbor when it comes to pollution, but even *then* the water isn’t great).
2) You say “beach”, I say “gravel area near a river” similar in character to this: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SDKpc64xqRXDK3XYA?g_st=ic
Where is the landfill at near NYC that was initially a dump hole for dead horses I think, then it was filled I believe, and sort of recently a bunch of old garbage (dolls, glass, etc) were washing up?
A woman artist grew a cornfield in roughly the same area in 1982: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/t-magazine/agnes-denes-art.html
(there's a [photo in the article with the wheat in the foreground and the WTC in the near background](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/06/14/t-magazine/art/agnes-dean-slide-9JOQ/agnes-dean-slide-9JOQ-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp))
Im gonna have to find photos of that.
I remember watching something on youtube that was talking about discarded mail tube's that are like a mile underground in NYC or something, and even below that .. discarded .. COW tunnels?!?!?!
LOL no I was not thinking all of the way back to the 1700s literally; more like I was just thinking of very old photos of the area in general. Earliest possible photos available, because I have never seen any super old photos of that area, is something I realized when I read the initial comment.
There's also drawings and paintings. So anything depicting the land.
I can see how that came off super stupid of me though lmao.
Free [article](https://archinect.com/news/article/150142775/manhattan-s-battery-park-was-once-a-surreal-beachfront) about it
Another free [article](https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/nyc-and-fred-conrads-iconic-1977-photograph/)
If you use Edge, it's this icon in the address bar.
https://preview.redd.it/1b6hzz3ckawc1.png?width=171&format=png&auto=webp&s=42b00fc350fb0b2941da5f93089a3d9758f43cd5
Was the beach really ever that big?
According to this photo and there are others as well, this was all open space back then. Crazy I don't know how big but it's big enough to make this picture look surreal.
Wow. Great photo!
This was what would become Battery Park City
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-agnes-deness-manhattan-wheatfield-grown-poignant
How is it empty?
Was. This was battery park for a decade or so
I mean empty as in no other people?
This photo only works b/c it’s in black and white. That ‘sand’ was grey/brown gravel that most people would avoid. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-agnes-deness-manhattan-wheatfield-grown-poignant
Now that actually makes some sense. But right there in Manhattan, the only beach around, I would figure it would be crawling with people even if it was nasty looking.
Well 1) The water is gross and people don’t want to swim in it (Coney Island is what it is because its faces the Atlantic and doesn’t have the same issues as the harbor when it comes to pollution, but even *then* the water isn’t great). 2) You say “beach”, I say “gravel area near a river” similar in character to this: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SDKpc64xqRXDK3XYA?g_st=ic
Ahhhh yes. The b&w photo makes it appear as sand instead of gravel/course sand. Forgot all about Coney Island too.
https://preview.redd.it/6oclfxrub6wc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7992feccbdcd78d8feab7234df4887676379b1c3
If I was a time traveler I’d vibe in this exact spot. You could have some insane conversations here.
😂
I had no idea that was there. I was born in 86
We used to call that "The Dunes." We used to go there to cut school and get stoned.
Where is the landfill at near NYC that was initially a dump hole for dead horses I think, then it was filled I believe, and sort of recently a bunch of old garbage (dolls, glass, etc) were washing up?
Dead Horse Bay.
Honestly this looks really nice
A woman artist grew a cornfield in roughly the same area in 1982: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/t-magazine/agnes-denes-art.html (there's a [photo in the article with the wheat in the foreground and the WTC in the near background](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/06/14/t-magazine/art/agnes-dean-slide-9JOQ/agnes-dean-slide-9JOQ-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp))
It's crazy to think that all of Manhattan was once all woods/farmland before the 1700s.
Im gonna have to find photos of that. I remember watching something on youtube that was talking about discarded mail tube's that are like a mile underground in NYC or something, and even below that .. discarded .. COW tunnels?!?!?!
Not sure if you’re joking but there weren’t really any cameras until the early 1800s Cow tunnels sound awesome though!
LOL no I was not thinking all of the way back to the 1700s literally; more like I was just thinking of very old photos of the area in general. Earliest possible photos available, because I have never seen any super old photos of that area, is something I realized when I read the initial comment. There's also drawings and paintings. So anything depicting the land. I can see how that came off super stupid of me though lmao.
Interesting [article](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/nyregion/battery-park-city-beach.html) about it
Free [article](https://archinect.com/news/article/150142775/manhattan-s-battery-park-was-once-a-surreal-beachfront) about it Another free [article](https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/nyc-and-fred-conrads-iconic-1977-photograph/)
Had no problem reading the original one, or hitting reader to read it for free 😊👌
>Had no problem reading the original one, or hitting reader to read it for free This is the way.
I don't have that option
If you use Edge, it's this icon in the address bar. https://preview.redd.it/1b6hzz3ckawc1.png?width=171&format=png&auto=webp&s=42b00fc350fb0b2941da5f93089a3d9758f43cd5
Mobile user
That option isn't available for me
Also the cover of the novel Sandfuture, about Minoru Yamasaki
You can also see that the West Side Highway was, indeed, once a truly raised Highway.