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8 Votes
17 Comments
Silver, cars, a piano, bodies, a train, ships, a giraffe, t.p., and more: Uncovering the secrets beneath New York Harbor
News Type: Event — Seeded on Thu May 14, 2009 3:00 PM EDT
Article Source: New York MagazineThe steady transformation of New York's waterfront from wasteland to playground means more of us are spending time along the city's edge. That can lead a person to wonder: What, exactly, is down there? Until recently, we had patchy knowledge of what lies beneath the surface of one of the world's busiest harbors. What we did know came largely from random anecdotes, and depth soundings done the way Henry Hudson did them—by rope and lead sinker.
This first GPS-era picture comes from the team at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who have methodically swept the lower Hudson with state-of-the-art sonar. LDEO's Dr. Frank Nitsche stitched together their data, along with several other researchers' work, into this elegant color-keyed map, which we've supplemented by talking with sea captains, historians, and the divers pictured above. There's a whole other city down there. Here and on the following pages is your guide.
Published to:
- Carloz's Column, All of Newsvine
- Groups: Daily Did You Know?, Headline Discussion, Historical Vine, Open Mic, Science And Technology, US News and Views
- Regions: New York
- Public Discussion (17)
- Public Discussion (0)
- Daily Did You Know?
- Headline Discussion
- Historical Vine
- Open Mic
- Science And Technology
- US News and Views
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8.5
{"commentId":7080061,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
...
23. 1,600 Bars of Silver, Weighing 100 Pounds Apiece
1903, a barge in the Arthur Kill—the oily, mucky arm of the harbor between Staten Island and New Jersey—capsized, spilling its cargo of silver ingots. It carried 7,678 bars; about 6,000 were recovered soon after. The rest are still down there. At today’s prices, they’re worth about $26 million. Every now and then, someone tries to find them. So far, no luck.24. Ice-cream Trucks
Reefs, because they are good places for edible plants and small animals, attract schools of fish. In 1969, in order to build a new artificial reef, the Department of Environmental Conservation dumped a bargeload of scrapped Good Humor trucks off Atlantic Beach, where they were eventually joined by (according to the DEC) “30,000 tires in three-tire units; 404 auto bodies; nine barges; the tug Fran S; a steel lifeboat; steel crane and boom; surplus armored vehicles; concrete slabs, pipes, culvert, decking and rubble; 530,000 cubic yards of rock from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers excavation project.” The pile is now known as a good spot for lobstering, and for catching black sea bass, blackfish, porgy, bergall, hake, and cod.25. Appetizers
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{"commentId":7080061,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 2 votes
#1 - Thu May 14, 2009 3:15 PM EDT{"commentId":7080174,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
An excellent article with a color-keyed map to the area and the things lost and found. Anyone up for looking for that silver?
{"commentId":7080174,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7080992,"authorDomain":"sorrelen"}
I am in Carloz!! I love a good treasure hunt :-)
{"commentId":7080992,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"sorrelen"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7082096,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
OK, Sorrelen!
{"commentId":7082096,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7080520,"authorDomain":"geejay"}
Fascinating, Carloz. I often wonder what is under the SF bay...and what it would look like if empty. Surprisingly, our bay is only 14 feet deep on average.
{"commentId":7080520,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"geejay"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Thu May 14, 2009 3:33 PM EDT{"commentId":7082195,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
Thanks, TJG, but the link you provided doesn't work for me.
{"commentId":7082195,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7083583,"authorDomain":"littlereddog"}
Buenos Noches, Senor Carlos!
Thanks for the interesting read. From now on I'm going to remember to ask NYC waiters if my fish or seafood is "grown locally". Yuck, what a mess!
{"commentId":7083583,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"littlereddog"}
- 1 vote
#3 - Thu May 14, 2009 5:35 PM EDT{"commentId":7090809,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
I know -- it made me wonder about seafood everywhere.
{"commentId":7090809,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7090245,"authorDomain":"bobnelsonfrance"}
Very cool article. Thanks.
{"commentId":7090245,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"bobnelsonfrance"}
- 1 vote
#4 - Fri May 15, 2009 1:56 AM EDT{"commentId":7090751,"authorDomain":"alkimija"}
Creepy. After reading #21, I think the bars of silver can just stay down there. No way I'm diving in that crap (literally).
{"commentId":7090751,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"alkimija"}
- 2 votes
#5 - Fri May 15, 2009 4:07 AM EDT{"commentId":7090813,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
I know what you mean -- maybe in a submergeable with retractable arms.
{"commentId":7090813,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7092821,"authorDomain":"sorrelen"}
Was it the oil film? The alligators? The rats? Oh maybe the dead bodies :-)
{"commentId":7092821,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"sorrelen"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7096016,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
Or the toilet paper and the crap. Ewwww!
{"commentId":7096016,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7096509,"authorDomain":"sorrelen"}
Or it could be the crap....
{"commentId":7096509,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"sorrelen"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7108213,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
LOL!
{"commentId":7108213,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7092496,"authorDomain":"redsfan"}
I saw a documentary once about how they dumped trash at the edges of Manhattan Island to make the island bigger so they could build more buildings. So now literally, some of the buildings are built on landfill of trash. Amazing.
{"commentId":7092496,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"redsfan"}
- 2 votes
#6 - Fri May 15, 2009 8:53 AM EDT{"commentId":7096243,"authorDomain":"carloz"}
What a trashy place.
{"commentId":7096243,"threadId":"578692","contentId":"2817772","authorDomain":"carloz"}
- 2 votes
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