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…