Search block-by-block for the animals, plants, and Native Americans who occupied the island before European settlement.
Before bankers and club kids, Manhattan had gray wolves, harbor porpoises, and the Lenape (aka Delaware Indians). Now New Yorkers can explore where these historical humans and wildlife likely roamed—right down to the block they live on today.
Each block or neighborhood gets its own list of possible 17th-century species. The shoreline next to the World Trade Center site had a medium likelihood of harboring meadow voles, white-footed mice, ospreys, redback salamanders, black-cherry trees, and a daisylike plant called prairie fleabane. It was dominated by hillsides and, for the Lenape, had less-than-optimal opportunities for hunting but great chances of foraging.
The project is a work in progress with some areas waiting to be filled in. You can help the map grow by offering a donation to the wildlife society, and in return get a shout-out in these unexplored zones once they're completed.