'New York is emblematic of growing coastal cities all over the world that are observed to be subsiding,' the new paper notes, 'meaning there is a shared global challenge of mitigation against a growing inundation hazard.'Īs it often goes with these sorts of alarm-raising studies, Parsons and his team don't really give much in the way of solutions for the problem, even as they note that more and more people move to coastal urban regions each year. NYC isn't alone among coastal cities that are sinking more and more each year. In 2021, one of the same researchers from the US Geological Survey found similar results in San Francisco. 'A deeply concentrated population of 8.4 million people faces varying degrees of hazard from inundation in New York City.' Lower East Side 'New York faces significant challenges from flood hazard the threat of sea level rise is 3 to 4 times higher than the global average along the Atlantic coast of North America,' the team behind the paper wrote. The further New York descends, the more vulnerable it becomes to climate change-related catastrophes, too, with 2012's Hurricane Sandy serving as a cautionary tale. Overall, wrote researchers from the United States Geological Survey and the University of Rhode Island, New York is sinking at one to two millimeters per year- though in those particular problem areas, the situation seems to be worse.Īs with everything else, this sinking doesn't happen in a vacuum. Sinking Feelingīad news for New Yorkers: the Big Apple appears to be sinking a little deeper into the Earth each year, under the unfathomable weight of its iconic skyscrapers.Ī new study published in the journal Earth's Future finds that the geological process of subsidence, in which sediments shift and settle, seems to be occurring rapidly in specific parts of NYC, including the just-at-sea-level area of Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens as well. If you want to visit Manhattan on a guided tour, check out our Manhattan Tour, or walking tour of Midtown Manhattan.Awesome, that's exactly what New York needs. To experience the 'other Manhattan' visit the north Manhattan district of Harlem. Lower Manhattan was as important in the past (the development of New York happened here) as it is now (in this area you'll find Wall Street and the financial district that so strongly determines the world's economy). In Manhattan, you'll find the unequaled Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Center, the surprising Chrysler Building, the fascinating Times Square, the controversial MoMA, and other top attractions. All the life of the borough is concentrated in the area known as Midtown, north of 31st Street. Ninety percent of the most popular attractions are found in Manhattan and on the island. It's named after Fort Washington, a fort built during the eighteenth century to protect the area from the British.

Washington Heights: This area is found in the northern part of the island (220th Street).

Its most famous street is 125th Street, where you'll find the Apollo Theatre.

Harlem: This area begins after Upper Manhattan and finishes on 155th Street.

The western part also includes Columbia University and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

Upper Manhattan: Upper Manhattan starts in Central Park and finishes on 96th Street.Its most famous area, with the greatest amount of skyscrapers, begins on 33rd Street, where the legendary Empire State Building is. Midtown Manhattan runs from 14th Street to 59th Street (the southern part of Central Park).The boundaries of Lower Manhattan go from the south of the island to 14th Street. In this area, you'll find the business district and various governing bodies. Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan and the point where New York was founded.

Manhattan skyscrapers