More Contrasty Stuff

From 1908, “Lower Manhattan from Governors Island – The City of Skyscrapers – Made possible by the development of the Otis Elevator.” I wonder who could possibly have paid for this card to be printed?

Obviously, yes, safe elevators were necessary for the development of tall buildings, but I feel safe in saying that if Elisha Otis had not invented and popularized a safety elevator someone else would have. The state of tall buildings in lower Manhattan is well illustrated: the land here is pretty close to flat, and the appearance of a big hill in the middle is simply the increasing density of very tall buildings as you go from the water’s edge to the Broadway/Broad Street/Nassau Street spine. The tallest is the brand-new Singer tower.

Perhaps because I spend so much time researching old buildings, the thing that really grabbed me when I looked at this is the schooner off to the left. It’s heading roughly west, from the mouth of the East River into the center of the harbor. In 1908, that was probably a working boat. Serious cargo and passengers had long since switched to steam, but the low end of things still sometimes used sail. It might have been a pleasure boat, but then I wonder what it could possibly have been doing at this location. Governors Island itself was still an army base at that time, but a pleasant one with pretty buildings and a lot of greenery.