Did you know that New York City was literally built from Oyster 🦪 Shells?

When Henry Hudson arrived in what is now New York City in 1609, there were approximately 350 square miles of oyster reefs in the harbor and its surrounding waters, which contained nearly half of the world’s oyster population. As the city expanded, many of the buildings including Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center depended on the burning of oyster shells for lime. 

While thinking about the importance of oysters to NYC, we are highlighting “The Famous Oyster Bar” on 7th Avenue at West 54th Street which was founded in 1959 and continued to be operated by the same family until it closed in 2014. It’s bright red #neonsignage was saved and now hangs at the Grey Lady restaurant and oyster bar restaurant on Delancey Street in the Lower East Side.