In Case of Armageddon, Break Out the GIS

ADiva writes "There's a detailed, three-dimensional, interactive map of New York City which captures the five boroughs down to the square foot, incorporating everything from building floor plans to subway and sewer tubes. Could the city be rebuilt if destroyed? Should it?" As a New York resident, let me say that if something Bad happened to the city, I hope it is built anew rather than trying to recreate the 1910-era buildings that make up half the city's housing. An "Old New York" in the Metaverse might be fun to visit, though.

Comments

Cool idea but....

[Bush_man10]

Would they rebuild the Bronx as it is now? :)

Suggested plans to rebuild NYC

[Navius Eurisko]

In you already didn't know, there are a lot of scenarios regarding rebuilting cities (and New York in particular.)

* Rebuilt New York as a maximun security prision and plot out a flight path for Air Force One right over the city.

* Rebuilt New York a mile away. Motocycle gangs will battle each other, gray skinned wrinkly children will roam the streets, and a teenage boy with a red cape and a "Da Da Da" theme will wreak havoc.

* Dinosaurs. 'nuff said.

* In case of flood: Lease out above water skyscrappers to robotics manufacturers.

* In case of attack by phantasmal alien beings: Erect a "Barrier City" and make everyone look like a Doom III screenshot.

* In case of attack by 200' tall lizard or ape: Air force to the rescue, barbecue for the civilians.

As you can see, you can rest easy knowing that every possible scenario regarding NYC has already been covered.

Warning: NYC rebuilding scenarios may require several poor thought out and executed "sequel" scenarios should the first scenario be received well by the population.

Re:Suggested plans to rebuild NYC

[Anonymous Coward]

Besides, you forgot the "talking apes keeping humans as slaves/pets" option.

I think he assumed everyone was familiar with present day New York. :-)

--
AC

i live in times square

[circletimessquare]

i live in times square and i just have a few details for the metaverse keepers:

yes, there are dishes in my sink, but when you rebuild could you replace them with an empty sink?

i have a pile of laundry as well. see what you can do about that. thank you.

i'd like a bigger tv for me in new york 2.0, please? oh and more windows! i don't know why there isn't one on the west wall, it's a perfect place for it.

move that hotel over a few feet so i get a better view too.

thank you! much appreciated! ;-P

ps: can you fix the bedroom window? it lost it's spring and doesn't stay up when i open it, thank you very very much.

Re:if new york is destroyed,

[guttentag]

Citizen 1: "Where are we going to find food to eat?"
Citizen 2: "What about the radiation?"
Citizen 3: "Don't worry about that. Our first order of business is to get the Empire State Building back up. We're Americans! We have to show 'em we're not afraid! Give me a hand with this girder... c'mon! We've got to get all these building back up before they come back and bomb us again!"

As a NYC native, I must concede the discussion would probably wind down to an argument over which to rebuild first: Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium. And the survivors would kill each other trying to work it out.

if new york destroyed, we can play it in quake3+!

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope they convert the 3D maps over to
quake3 levels so I can do some fraggin
in all 5 boroughs!!!!

GTA3+ levels would be even better!

muhahaha

Re:I vote for 100 year old designs

[Alex Belits]

I have moved from Russia almost 9 years ago, and every time I see a construction site here one thought appears in my mind:

Why are they building everything from a cardboard?

Now I live in a relatively old concrete building, but it still has way too much of dry wall in it for my taste.

It's still amusing to see a paper company logo on the office paper and know that the same logo is painted over on the office walls.