Manhattan's flooded zone is landfill

Most of Sandy-flooded lower Manhattan is landfill. There is a lot more Manhattan than there used to be. The Battery was just that - and it was on two near-shore islands. The entire area west of the World Trade Center is recent fill - much of it from the No. 3 water tunnel still being excavated. 

Compare the Manhattan evacuation map to a 1776 map of the island before the filling started. Basically - if it is red it is fill.   The eastern line of Zone A along the Hudson River runs along Greenwich Street on the west, which was at the waterfront in 1776. The old slips on the East River extend inland to Queen Street, now Pearl Street, which is near where Zone A runs along the East River.
Click through HERE for an interactive Google map in the TPM post which is the source of this post.