The tale of Manhattan’s lost beach all begins with an over ambitious plan from former Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. With high hopes to revitalize southern Manhattan, Governor Rockefeller’s ideas for a new “coordinated community” flopped. As a result, the area was left with a “sandy no man’s land west of the World Trade Center,” according to The New York Times.
This eventually became known at ersatz beach. Though it was technically a landfill and the sand wasn’t meant for public use, artists and other rule-breaking New Yorkers took their opportunity to sun bathe steps away from the shoreline.
The most iconic photo from this era is the first one in this article, featuring graphic designers David Vanden-Eynden and Chris Calori, who frequented the beach. “There was nothing there yet and there were spectacular views of the towers and across the river,” says Vanden-Eynden, in a story from The New York Times.
Another artist, Nancy Rubins, used the accumulated waste to create a 15-foot sculpture. Additional historical photos that now make you hold your breath knowing the tragedy to come, share images of beach volley ball, leisure reading and even more art installations on ersatz beach.
Among the most notable installations includes Agnes Denes’ “Wheatfield — A Confrontation.” The landfill/beach was transformed into two-acres of wheat field as a representation of “misplaced priorities.”
So let’s just be clear that this was not intended to be a beach. However, it only speaks to New Yorkers’ gusto to not only see the beauty in the ugly, but to interpret the world with their own flare.
By the 2000s, ersatz beach and the landfill became a blip in history for the land as it once again transformed throughout the years to the park we now know it as today.