7. This Part of Governors Island Was Originally Formed by Excavation from the Lexington Avenue Subway

One of New York City’s many man-made locations, the southern part of Governors Island (the cone of the ice cream cone) was made from landfill that came out of the excavation of the Lexington Avenue subway (4/5/6 lines) in 1912. 4,787,000 cubic yards of fill were used to add 103 acres to Governors Island. There was 175,000 cubic yards of fill added to create the first section of the new park that opened in 2014, and 297,000 additional cubic yards added to make The Hills. In total, 472,000 cubic yards of fill were added for both phases of the new park, which would fill the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal three times (with fill left over still) or a line of 1600 subway cars streching from Yonkers to Battery Park.