Sawing-off of Manhattan Island facts for kids
The sawing-off of Manhattan Island is a famous urban legend from New York City. An urban legend is a modern story that sounds true but often isn't, and it spreads by word of mouth or online. This particular story is about a funny practical joke that supposedly happened way back in 1824.
The legend says that a retired ship carpenter named Lozier was behind it. In the 1820s, a strange rumor started going around among city merchants. They believed that the heavy buildings and people in the southern part of Manhattan Island, near a place called the Battery, were causing the island to sink!
The idea was to "fix" this problem by cutting the island, pulling it out into the water, spinning it around 180 degrees, and then putting it back in place. People thought this would make Manhattan stable again. They also believed the thinner part of the island could then be removed. The main worry wasn't how silly the idea was, but that Long Island might get in the way!
Lozier supposedly gathered a huge team of workers and all the equipment needed. A big event was planned to start the project, but Lozier never showed up! He hid in Brooklyn and didn't come back for months.
Is the Manhattan Sawing Story True?
This story never appeared in any old newspapers from that time. Some people say newspapers didn't report on such pranks back then. Also, no official records have been found to prove that Lozier or the other people in the story ever existed.
Because of this, many people think the whole event never happened. They believe the original report of the hoax was actually a hoax itself! Joel Rose suggests this in his book, New York Sawed in Half: An Urban Historical, which came out in 2001.
Where Did the Story Come From?
The first time this funny hoax was written down was in 1862. It appeared in a book called The Market Book by Thomas F. De Voe. He said his uncle, who was supposedly Lozier's friend, told him the story.
Later, the story was told again in Herbert Asbury's book, All Around The Town: Murder, Scandal, Riot and Mayhem in Old New York, published in 1934. This book was later reissued as a sequel to his famous work, Gangs of New York.
A shorter version of the tale also appeared in the 1960s in a Reader's Digest book. It was called Scoundrels and Scallywags: 51 Stories of the Most Fascinating Characters of Hoax and Fraud, published in 1968.
