Waterfront Manhattan
From Henry Hudson to the High Line
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Rich in historical, sociological, and economic detail . . . a new way to look at the ascendancy and growth of America’s most important city.” —Civil Engineering
With its maritime links across the oceans, along the Atlantic coast, and inland to the Midwest and New England, Manhattan became a global city and home to the world’s busiest port. It was a world of docks, ships, tugboats, and ferries, filled with cargo and freight, a place where millions of immigrants entered the Promised Land.
In Waterfront Manhattan, Kurt C. Schlichting tells the story of the Manhattan waterfront as a struggle between public and private control of New York’s priceless asset. From colonial times until after the Civil War, the city ceded control of the waterfront to private interests, excluding the public entirely and sparking a battle between shipping companies, the railroads, and ferries for access to the waterfront.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the City of New York regained control of the waterfront, but a whirlwind of forces beyond the control of either public or private interests—technological change in the form of the shipping container and the jet airplane—devastated the city’s maritime world. The city slowly and painfully recovered. Visionaries reimagined the waterfront, and today the island is almost completely surrounded by parkland, the world of piers and longshoremen gone, replaced by luxury housing and tourist attractions.
Waterfront Manhattan is “an impressive narrative which is sure to shed light on this underappreciated aspect of New York City history” (Global Maritime History).
“An important book. There is much to ponder on the future of New York City’s harbor.” —Journal of American History
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sociology professor Schlichting provides a useful addition to the growing number of accessible history books that examine the Big Apple through a narrow lens. While the city is no longer a central hub of maritime industry, Manhattan became a global power partly because of New York Harbor. Schlichting, who uses primary sources such as bills of entry and passenger lists, traces the results of the city government's strategy, beginning in the 1730s and extending into the late 19th century, of funding waterfront infrastructure by selling underwater land to private developers who were to build the necessary wharves and piers. That choice not only affected the number of ships that could dock, but also enabled the development of ships that operated on set schedules, which facilitated significant immigration and altered the physical structure of the waterfront. In clearly labeled short sections chock-full of facts and figures, Schlichting carries the story through to the present, when private capital has again been used to develop the waterfront, this time for mostly residential use, and ends with the open question of whether the current "complex arrangement of private/public control will meet the environmental challenges to come," such as rising water levels and hurricanes. Schlichting effectively employs his expertise and diligent research to produce a valuable and easy-to-follow reference highlighting the essential role of the waterfront in New York City's development.
