A grand historical atlas of the region that would become New York City, from the author of Mannahatta.

In Before New York, Eric W. Sanderson invites us on a breathtaking journey through the evolution of New York City—its natural features, inhabitants, and geography—from long before Henry Hudson's arrival in 1609 up to the present day. This monumental work is the culmination of more than 25 years of research, featuring 75 original maps, 200 color illustrations, and nearly 4,000 detailed descriptions of streams, wetlands, rocks, plants, animals, and Indigenous settlements. An epic expansion of Sanderson's bestselling and critically acclaimed book Mannahatta, this atlas and gazetteer brings to life the lost world of Welikia, land we now describe as the five boroughs of New York City, revealing what has vanished, what survives, and what could be restored with vision and care.

Eric W. Sanderson worked on Before New York: The Natural Geography of the City during his 2019-2020 Fellowship at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. He will discuss his book with journalist Michael Kimmelman.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Eric W. Sanderson is a landscape ecologist and vice president for urban conservation at the New York Botanical Garden. He was formerly a senior conservation ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Sanderson is director of the Mannahatta Project and author of the book Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City. He is also the author of Terra Nova: The New World After Oil, Cars, and Suburbs. Sanderson is based at the NYBG in New York City’s greenest borough, the Bronx.

Michael Kimmelman is the architecture critic of the New York Times. He was the paper’s chief art critic and, from Berlin, created the Abroad column, covering politics and culture across Europe and the Middle East. He has reported from more than 40 countries and founded Headway, a nonprofit journalistic initiative focused on global challenges and paths to progress. A native New Yorker, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, he is the author of The Intimate City: Walking New York, The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa, and Portraits: Talking with Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere.

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ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. 

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation at least two weeks in advance of the event: please submit your request via this form.

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The Cullman Center is made possible by a generous endowment from Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honor of Brooke Russell Astor, with major support provided by Mrs. John L. Weinberg, the Mellon Foundation, the Estate of Charles J. Liebman, The von der Heyden Family Foundation, John and Constance Birkelund, The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, and the Sidney J. Weinberg, Jr. Foundation, with additional gifts from Helen and Roger Alcaly, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Arts and Letters Foundation Inc., Christopher Hewat, William W. Karatz, Merilee and Roy Bostock, and Cullman Center Fellows.