Editing Lower Manhattan (section)

===19th century===
{{Main|History of New York City (1784–1854)|History of New York City (1855–1897)}}
[[File:Twelve Miles Around New York (City) Map 1849 by James Charles Sidney.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''Sidney's Map Twelve Miles Around New York'', 1849 lithograph by James Charles Sidney]]
[[File:The_Cooper_Union's_Foundation_Building_-_North_Side_(48072759802).jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Cooper Union]] at [[Astor Place]], one of Lower Manhattan's most storied buildings, where [[Abraham Lincoln]] gave his famed [[Cooper Union speech]] on February 27, 1860]]
New York grew as an economic center, first as a result of [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s policies and practices as the first [[Secretary of the Treasury]] and, later, with the opening of the [[Erie Canal]] in 1825, which connected the [[Port of New York and New Jersey|Atlantic port]] to the vast agricultural markets of the North American interior.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bridges |first=William |title=Map of the City of New York and Island of Manhattan with Explanatory Remarks and References |year=1811 }}</ref><ref name="lankevich-p67">Lankevich (1998), pp. 67–68.</ref> [[History of immigration to the United States|Immigration]] resumed after being slowed by wars in Europe, and a new [[street grid]] system, the [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]], expanded to encompass all of Manhattan. Early in the 19th century, the [[landfill]] was used to expand Lower Manhattan from the natural Hudson shoreline at [[Greenwich Street]] to [[West Street (Manhattan)|West Street]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor |last=Cudahy |first=Brian J. |publisher=[[Fordham University Press]] |year=1990 |page=25 |isbn=0-8232-1245-9 }}</ref>

In 1898, the modern [[City of Greater New York|City of New York]] was formed with the consolidation of [[History of Brooklyn|Brooklyn]] (until then an independent city), Manhattan and outlying areas.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120526195410/http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/hist_info/100aniv.html The 100 Year Anniversary of the Consolidation of the 5 Boroughs into New York City], New York City. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> The borough of [[Brooklyn]] incorporated the independent City of Brooklyn, recently joined to Manhattan by the [[Brooklyn Bridge]] in Lower Manhattan. Municipal governments contained within the boroughs were abolished, and the county governmental functions, housed in Lower Manhattan after unification, were absorbed by the city or each borough.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth |title=Encyclopedia of New York City |year=1995 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |page=206}} "[B]orough presidents ... responsible for local administration and public works."</ref>