Manhattan, 1609 vs 2005

Eric Sanderson has documented the changes in Manhattan’s physical landscape from 1609 to the present. Wired this month showed a map with black outlines around the green familiar shape of the island, the gap between is where fill has created new land for the wharves and piers. He also compared the number of species of birds (400 then 400 now), and the other animal species (100 then 170 now) and square miles (17.4 vs. 19.3).

Lost was 67 miles of stream, (now there is only .5, manmade) and the Natives, who spoke the same language with different dialects. Today there are people from about 200 countries, speaking at least 170 languages. And 1.5 million people instead of between 400-4000.