There's a fascinating exhibit that recently opened at the Museum of the City of New York called "Manhattan/Manahatta" that takes a look at what this island looked like before all that construction. Apparently, it was something of a natural wonder....who knew? And, in a TIMES article about the show, there's this choice quote from the show's creator, Eric W. Sanderson:
“If Mannahatta existed today as it did then, it would be a national park — it would be the crowning glory of American national parks.”
Loooking at the pictures, like the one above, it's not hard to see why. The Museum also has more specific computer generated photos where you can look up your neighborhood and find, say, a freshwater stream running through it. On Houston Street, I am forutnate enough to get to see a piece of anicent-school NYC everyday at the Time Landscape, a mini-park on the corner of Houston & LaGuardia where the land has been restored to it's pre-people state. It's a gentle, daily reminder of the natural wonder this place of man-made wonders used to be.
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