Water for Gotham: A History (review)

Gerard Koeppel is a keen observer of the colorful people and political chicanery that characterized the history of New York City. He has a background in television journalism, and his publications include pieces in the Encyclopedia of New York City and the Encyclopedia of New York State. In his first book, Water for Gotham, Koeppel convincingly portrays the political calculations, determined personalities, and fears of disease that defined New York City's quest for a clean water supply from the 1600s to the middle of the 1800s.

His story unfolds chronologically, starting with the arrival of Dutch colonists. Manhattan enjoyed abundant natural resources but it lacked fresh water, and its residents suffered as a result. The city's reputation also suffered: visitors unfavorably contrasted New York's "hard and brackish" water (p. 26) to that of rival Philadelphia. Koeppel argues that political machinations thwarted subsequent efforts to give parched New Yorkers better water, an argument well supported by his sources. Drawing upon private correspondence, city council minutes, and newspaper accounts, he demonstrates that state assemblyman Aaron Burr manipulated public hysteria over a yellow fever epidemic to secure a charter for his Manhattan Company. Burr never seriously tried to bring fresh water to New York—he really intended to engage in banking, and the city's residents endured another thirty years of objectionable water because Burr's company held exclusive rights to sources of water in Manhattan and Westchester County. Meanwhile, conflict between city councilmen and legislators in Albany derailed other schemes to quench New York's thirst. Only when cholera killed thirty-five hundred citizens in 1832 did civic-minded politicians bury their differences, agreeing on a successful plan to convey water from the distant Croton River.

Broader insights from this book reinforce, but do not challenge, existing scholarship in the field of urban history. For example, Koeppel's thesis that only a nonpartisan Board of Water Commissioners could have completed the Croton Aqueduct confirms what historian Joanne Goldman says about New York's sewers: Goldman argues that New York needed nonpoliticized, professional boards of engineers and physicians in order to construct New York's wastewater system during the mid-1800s (Building New York's Sewers, 1995). As another example, Koeppel rightly maintains that some policy choices made in the "heat of battle" can have unfortunate consequences in future years, and his discussion of Aaron Burr's Manhattan Company is a revealing case in point; Martin Melosi, in his recent book The Sanitary City (2000), argues the same point, contending that municipal leaders often made poor policy choices when confronted with public health crises.

Koeppel's more valuable contribution is his emphasis on the role of individual personalities. It is likely, for example, that crotchety Senator Stephen Allen saved New York City millions of dollars and numerous headaches when he vetoed an ill-advised plan to bring water from the Bronx River. Had Allen been less stubborn, he might have acquiesced in the Bronx River proposal and delayed a decision to build the Croton Aqueduct. Likewise, Alderman Myndert Van Schaick wisely used the tragedy surrounding New York's 1832 cholera outbreak to marshal support for the Croton Aqueduct plan, the key to solving the water crisis. Koeppel spices his narrative with characters like the "rude and unpolished Allen" (p. 126) and the "forward thinking" Van Schaick (p. 146). Ultimately, resolute Yankees like Allen and Van Schaick played a crucial role in this narrative. Koeppel's emphasis on their story makes his book highly readable, and demonstrates how determined leaders overcame political inertia, bringing water to America's largest city during the mid-1800s.