Mannahatta

A Natural History of New York City
by Eric Sanderson

This is a work of tremendous vision, imagining New York as it might have appeared to Henry Hudson in 1609, as he sailed up the great river that now bears his name. It also dramatically matches those views with Gotham as it appears today, after centuries of building up, out, down, and over, and thus reminds us of the pastoral past: the hill that was Murray Hill, the meadows that were Harlem. That is heartbreaking in a way but it is also a call to arms, summoning us to what may be our Arcadia-to-come in a greener city of the future.

Eric Sanderson is Associate Director for Landscape Analysis in the Living program of the Wildlife Conservation Society jus across the street from us at the Bronx Zoo

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