Answers About New Yorks Hidden Places, Part 3

the Manhattan schist that makes the skyline what it is. The 450-million-year-old bedrock is found at various depths throughout the city, from 18 feet below ground in Times Square to 260 feet below ground in Greenwich Village. Tall buildings cannot be constructed where the bedrock lies too far below the surface to access because they would lack the necessary structural support. As a result, there are relatively short buildings in Greenwich Village and SoHo, but skyscrapers lined up like dominoes in Midtown, where schist is found close to the surface.

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