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Legend paints post-apocalyptic New York City as an urban jungle being replaced by actual jungle, with plants sprouting up through cracks in the sidewalks and a veritable field of waist-high grass in Times Square. So is this what would really happen if civilization ended? According to Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us, which analyzes how long man-made structures would survive if humans were to one day vanish from the face of the Earth, the answer is both yes and no. "You'd certainly have a lot of plants growing up through cracks in the sidewalk," Weisman says. "After three years, you might see some weeds that have made it waist-high in abandoned lots up in the Bronx, but if they're showing a waist-high field of grass in Times Square, that's a bit of a stretch." So what would we see after three years of no activity in New York? Gutters clogged by leaf litter, formerly cleared by the city's maintenance staff, would be a breeding ground for weeds and trees, Weisman says, and streets would flood because, after each rain, the sewers would be clogged with natural matter and plastic bags. Subway tunnels would flood in just two days and, in the absence of firemen, lightning strikes and gas line explosions would cause fires, leaving some buildings charred. Buildings three years into a post-automotive New York would also look substantially greener. "With no automobile traffic, you'd start seeing moss and lichens growing on them, because there would be no fumes," Weisman says. "If the heat is off, pipes will burst, and there will be signs of water damage in buildings. You might start seeing some facing breaking off the buildings. If reinforcing bar in any structure starts to rust, the rust expands and you'll see facing popping off." In the film, buildings are mostly in the background, but you won't see too much of this kind of decay. Wildlife would most certainly start to creep back into Manhattan, just as the film depicts. "I would not be surprised to see a bunch of deer coming in to graze in Central Park, and there would definitely be wild turkey there," Weisman says. "The lion would have to come out of a zoo, which means that it would have had to escaped its cage." Two types of animals you wouldn't see in a post-apocalyptic metropolis are roaches and rats, which both depend on humans to survive. "Roaches aren't going to do real well if there aren't any heated buildings," Weisman says, and rats will starve without trash to gorge themselves on.
First published on December 14, 2007 at the Popular Mechanics website. Written by Erin McCarthy.
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