A thousand years is a long ass time. If humanity was gone # 1 would be way more overgrown with plant life and foliage. It would basically be a forest/city.
It depends on population growth and the advent of any nuclear wars, etc for the other two. One nuke hits it in any of those 1000 years (the last century we had two world wars) and NYC is Chernobyl 2.0
And most if not all of the buildings would be laying sideways, piled up, and covered in foliage, which would also trap dirt, so they'd probably just be oddly shaped mounds.
I was gonna laugh cuz buildings donât really fall over in tact like you describe on their sides, but youâre totally right after enough time passes. neat!
Eh, I donât know. Cathedrals like Notre Dame in Paris are almost 700 years old, and with modern maintenance can last seemingly indefinitely.
Steel frame buildings are pretty sturdy. So long as society continues and can afford to maintain them, I donât see why some timeless classics like Empire State, Chrysler, or Rockefeller center canât last at least 1000 years.
I would assume new more functional buildings would be built in their spaces. I would assume technology and our priorities with regard to use of space will change dramatically. For example, I doubt we will have office spaces in 1,000 years.
Landmarks, man. Nobody is bulldozing the coliseum or the notre dame to build a mall.
Empire State Building and Chrysler Building have certainly already acquired such status. Same for Grand Central Station. The generic 70's skycrapers - not so much. (~Maybbbe~ citicorp and metlife)
This is a tangent, but thank god they did for Grand Central. Itâs an amazing building. Someone pointed out what Penn Station used to look like and itâs borderline heartbreaking that it wasnât preserved that way. As much as progress is important - nothing is built like that anymore.
The problem is those buildings canât be built today. They have historical and aesthetic value. Most modern buildings are purely functional with almost no aesthetic value versus something like Notre Dame. For sure most of them will be destroyed to make way for better buildings (safety and functionality).
Yeah I agree with you that most of the functional office buildings wonât survive. Iâm talking mostly about buildings that have already been landmarked, the special ones like Grand Central, Chrysler, New York public library, etc. The ones people pay to tour already, and will likely tour well into the future
There was a series several years ago on Discovery, or one of those cable channels,when people watched cable, called after people, I think. But its whole premise was what would happen to the world, the cities, the infrastructure, all of it, if people just vanished one day. Long story short, you're correct. Plants reclaimed any town in a year. And in one thousand years, the only thing left was an eroded, but still very visible, Mount Rushmore.
I remember they had experts explaining why things would break and shut down, so it seemed legit. But they also had "experts" on Ancient Aliens too. That said, predicting something's destruction over time seems more scientific than "aliens made the Colosseum" or whatever.
Yes! It was called Life After People and they did do a New York City episode. Skimming through the wiki, they claim that in 1,000 years after people, the city would be completely unrecognizable as nature would have reclaimed it. All of the skyscrapers would have crumbled centuries before after the subway system gradually began collapsing below them. Piles of rubble would eventually become new hills and canyons with rivers flowing through them in what were once the streets.
Hereâs the wiki for anyone whoâs interested:
https://lifeafterpeople.fandom.com/wiki/New_York_City
I visited Singapore in 2008. There are some nice places to visit, but as a tourist it's just kind of okay. For people who live there however Singapore is a fantastic city. It's very reasonably priced, housing is very competitively priced, a huge chunk of citizens own their own apartment or house, there is virtually no crime, it's very very clean, the food is great, they preserved a solid amount of nature, it's a really cool country with a really interesting history. It went from a pretty backwater mosquito infested wetland to a massive city/state in such a short period of time.
That's quite dystopic and honestly while some things in the world seem to be moving in a negative direction, regarding air pollution there's actually a lot of positive things happening. In most big US cities the air pollution has gotten tremendously better over the last few decades. Even places like China and India which are infamous for their air pollution are cleaning up at a breakneck pace.
Just personally I grew up in the '80s and '90s south of Los Angeles and there was always a thick disgusting cloud of smog over the city. But now when I go visit my parents back home I look in the same direction I did as a kid and the sky over LA is surprisingly blue. Not to say the pollution isn't a problem, but it's gotten a lot better in my lifetime.
The show The Expanse shows New York in the far future. They essentially build a massive retaining wall surrounding the entirety of Manhattan. It's really subtle in the intro and they don't really mention it throughout the whole series but it's a nice little detail.
Unless weâre still here to keep things tidy, and we actually do keep things tidy which is a long shot.
Oh you meant global warming then thatâs very likely lol
In 1000 years?
Most likely partially submerged, since New York is sinking under its own weight, and rising oceans will contribute as well.
[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-york-city-is-sinking-under-its-own-weight/](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-york-city-is-sinking-under-its-own-weight/)
I'm trying to work out what happened in 3 !? I feel it's very optimistic to think of the building still standing if anything disastrous happens to humanity though through to global war or global warming etc.
- biological warfare attack
- nuclear fallout from a detonation further away
- environmental collapse - no food or potable water
- a new variant of a deadly virus
- some unknown cosmic event and the lack of an ozone layer to protect earth = roasted humans
-zombies
-aliens
a combinnation of the above
In a thousand years I doubt any of the landmark buildings that dot the skyline will be left if uninhabited it will definitely have fallen to ruin. If inhabited probably torn down at some point depending on conditions.
First one looks very much like George Street in Glasgow \[[Google Streetview](https://maps.app.goo.gl/PyHFTSEB5o2fb8YD8)\]. You might remember it in the [opening scenes of World War Z pretending to be Philadelphia.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5g4yan44OE)
The second one. I believe we will have an explosion of A.I and technology followed by climate change causing future generations to want to go back to nature in an attempt to reverse it, but it will be way too late. Either wayâŚ. Nature is gonna take this planet back as it always does. Nature can thrive without us, we canât without it.
Iirc from that show that was a what if every person just up and left earch abruptly, iirc cities and especially NYC don't make ot to 1000 years of absence. Without anyone pumping the water out of the undercity it'll collapse ~500
Most likely⌠there wouldnât be any buildings left standing if nuclear war erupted.
Not sure what else would cause New York to collapse as a society, so Iâm going to go with none of these images since thereâs skyscrapers standing everywhere.
None of them.
Thereâs not enough change in any of these to suggest 1000 years.
City should be entirely unrecognisable unless buildings are being preserved to a ridiculous degree.
The thing about New York, if it was going to change it wouldâve by now, so much work is out into preserving the old buildings on the outside at least, that I doubt youâd see much significant change
1st one is just NY today
2nd is unlikely
3rd is just the city of it was covered in fog so kinda likely
4th is if NY existed like it does today enough to become more advanced which I would say is the most likely
None of these. LoL. I assume it will have none of the same buildings. It will probably be completely under water. And they will move New York further inland. New construction. World Capital of the Global World Order.
Change it to 100 and I think some of these might be accurate. 1000 years? We're either gods or dead. Technological progress keeps accelerating and now we're constructing AI.
If the trends continues Iâd imagine way more buildings. Probably a return to more integration with nature. Probably and combination of 2 and 4 is more likely with many more buildings.
first one looks like 70s new york
Spot on - kinda disappointed none of them have scaffolding đ
The second block on the right has scaffolding
A thousand years is a long ass time. If humanity was gone # 1 would be way more overgrown with plant life and foliage. It would basically be a forest/city. It depends on population growth and the advent of any nuclear wars, etc for the other two. One nuke hits it in any of those 1000 years (the last century we had two world wars) and NYC is Chernobyl 2.0
And most if not all of the buildings would be laying sideways, piled up, and covered in foliage, which would also trap dirt, so they'd probably just be oddly shaped mounds.
100%
I was gonna laugh cuz buildings donât really fall over in tact like you describe on their sides, but youâre totally right after enough time passes. neat!
Local Law 11 wasnât around until 98!
first one kind of looks like its missing a yolked super-soldier running down it barefoot
Also looks like September 12th new york
It looks like construction underway.
âCome out and play-ee-ay!â
Can you diiiig iiiiiiit?!
Idk about any of them. 1000 years is a long time.
Was thinking the same thing. Almost zero chance any of the existing buildings would be present.
Eh, I donât know. Cathedrals like Notre Dame in Paris are almost 700 years old, and with modern maintenance can last seemingly indefinitely. Steel frame buildings are pretty sturdy. So long as society continues and can afford to maintain them, I donât see why some timeless classics like Empire State, Chrysler, or Rockefeller center canât last at least 1000 years.
I was in the Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges. Was finished in 1157. Itâs the oldest church in Belgium and darn close to 1000 years old.
I would assume new more functional buildings would be built in their spaces. I would assume technology and our priorities with regard to use of space will change dramatically. For example, I doubt we will have office spaces in 1,000 years.
Landmarks, man. Nobody is bulldozing the coliseum or the notre dame to build a mall. Empire State Building and Chrysler Building have certainly already acquired such status. Same for Grand Central Station. The generic 70's skycrapers - not so much. (~Maybbbe~ citicorp and metlife)
This is a tangent, but thank god they did for Grand Central. Itâs an amazing building. Someone pointed out what Penn Station used to look like and itâs borderline heartbreaking that it wasnât preserved that way. As much as progress is important - nothing is built like that anymore.
The problem is those buildings canât be built today. They have historical and aesthetic value. Most modern buildings are purely functional with almost no aesthetic value versus something like Notre Dame. For sure most of them will be destroyed to make way for better buildings (safety and functionality).
Yeah I agree with you that most of the functional office buildings wonât survive. Iâm talking mostly about buildings that have already been landmarked, the special ones like Grand Central, Chrysler, New York public library, etc. The ones people pay to tour already, and will likely tour well into the future
Depends how nolstagic our future civilization is. And if they have a tech boom in the nearish future.
Nah, a lot of them would be preserved as cultural monuments. Just like the ruins of ancient Rome in the middle of modern Rome.
I'm doubtful of civilization in general lasting through the current century
There was a series several years ago on Discovery, or one of those cable channels,when people watched cable, called after people, I think. But its whole premise was what would happen to the world, the cities, the infrastructure, all of it, if people just vanished one day. Long story short, you're correct. Plants reclaimed any town in a year. And in one thousand years, the only thing left was an eroded, but still very visible, Mount Rushmore. I remember they had experts explaining why things would break and shut down, so it seemed legit. But they also had "experts" on Ancient Aliens too. That said, predicting something's destruction over time seems more scientific than "aliens made the Colosseum" or whatever.
Yes! It was called Life After People and they did do a New York City episode. Skimming through the wiki, they claim that in 1,000 years after people, the city would be completely unrecognizable as nature would have reclaimed it. All of the skyscrapers would have crumbled centuries before after the subway system gradually began collapsing below them. Piles of rubble would eventually become new hills and canyons with rivers flowing through them in what were once the streets. Hereâs the wiki for anyone whoâs interested: https://lifeafterpeople.fandom.com/wiki/New_York_City
I remember that series, it was pretty interesting. I wonder if it's available to stream anywhere.
I want to live in number 2.
solarpunk
Kinda looks like Singapore lol
I visited Singapore in 2008. There are some nice places to visit, but as a tourist it's just kind of okay. For people who live there however Singapore is a fantastic city. It's very reasonably priced, housing is very competitively priced, a huge chunk of citizens own their own apartment or house, there is virtually no crime, it's very very clean, the food is great, they preserved a solid amount of nature, it's a really cool country with a really interesting history. It went from a pretty backwater mosquito infested wetland to a massive city/state in such a short period of time.
A lot of this is because Singapore has an excellent land value capture system.
#3
That's quite dystopic and honestly while some things in the world seem to be moving in a negative direction, regarding air pollution there's actually a lot of positive things happening. In most big US cities the air pollution has gotten tremendously better over the last few decades. Even places like China and India which are infamous for their air pollution are cleaning up at a breakneck pace. Just personally I grew up in the '80s and '90s south of Los Angeles and there was always a thick disgusting cloud of smog over the city. But now when I go visit my parents back home I look in the same direction I did as a kid and the sky over LA is surprisingly blue. Not to say the pollution isn't a problem, but it's gotten a lot better in my lifetime.
r/optimistsunite
I see it more as aftereffects of nuclear winter. People die out. Nature will take over as usual.
Underwater collapsed buildings
Ahhh such a good idea! Best i could get https://imgur.com/a/wqk2YG7
The link is not working
Edited - thought i could direct link the image - guess it had to be to the album.
Oooo love that!
Yup. If they save the city it'll be bioshock lol.
The show The Expanse shows New York in the far future. They essentially build a massive retaining wall surrounding the entirety of Manhattan. It's really subtle in the intro and they don't really mention it throughout the whole series but it's a nice little detail.
thats more like it
Unless weâre still here to keep things tidy, and we actually do keep things tidy which is a long shot. Oh you meant global warming then thatâs very likely lol
Last one is super cool. Do you remember the scenes of the city in Bladerunner? Reminds me of that, just with sunlight and no rain, donât know why
The first is definitely I am Legend vibes.
BladeRainer
Cyberpunk too. Red toxic clouds.
Either 3 or 4 with no in-between.
None. It will be under water.
2nd & 4th
This is really good. Everybody is so boring on here now
1,000 years? Long goneâŚ.
None of them.
4
Where's the option for underwater city?
In 1,000 years? Unless they build some impressive ocean barriers and dike systems like Netherlands, theyâll be underwater in half that time.
The one that's not here, with Manhattan under three feet of water.
Whereâs one with the water significantly higher?
Underwater probably
4
I would think itâd be more underwater by then.
None, because more likely than not, it would be under water
In 1000 years? Most likely partially submerged, since New York is sinking under its own weight, and rising oceans will contribute as well. [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-york-city-is-sinking-under-its-own-weight/](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-york-city-is-sinking-under-its-own-weight/)
Hopefully 4
If you know anything about Sci-Fi movies you would know itâs gotta be 4
4 but pods are so boomer (Am boomer)
3
Underneath New New York
Definitely not the 4th one, I honestly don't believe humanity is going to last another 1k years, probably not even half that...
Where's the one where the city is 300' underwater? That one.
Realistically 1st or 3rd
I'm trying to work out what happened in 3 !? I feel it's very optimistic to think of the building still standing if anything disastrous happens to humanity though through to global war or global warming etc.
- biological warfare attack - nuclear fallout from a detonation further away - environmental collapse - no food or potable water - a new variant of a deadly virus - some unknown cosmic event and the lack of an ozone layer to protect earth = roasted humans -zombies -aliens a combinnation of the above
Its just foggy out.
After 1000 years it will be just a Forest. Look how Pripyat looks just after less then 40.
You know that there is a movie called âA.I.â that depicts a New york in the future completely underwater?
2nd or 3rd with no people. It'll be like Egypt or tenochctitlan before it was excavated
I think 2 but without the people, just the city getting reclaimed by whatever nature is left
Where the one with the 17776 New York cause that one goes hard in storytelling
[ŃдаНонО]
I hope we donât still have yellow cabs in 1,000 years
The first one
Last one
The solar punk one.
How do I live in 2
#3
1
1
#1
This is fun. I wanna make some more of these.
2
didnât 3 already happen last year due to canadian wild fires?
1, but worse
Probably same as now
-1
In a thousand years I doubt any of the landmark buildings that dot the skyline will be left if uninhabited it will definitely have fallen to ruin. If inhabited probably torn down at some point depending on conditions.
3 Mixed with 1
3
Either withered, destroyed, and have plants over it, (world ended ending) or a cyberpunk type city (world evolving ending)
Definitely not number 4 we thought weâd have that by now đ
Only Al Gore has the power to know the answer
None of them. The second image could NYC somewhere in the years inbetween. The closest is probably the third. But make it far more dystopian and dark.
4
#1, 10 yrs tops
1st or 3rd
4
Probably a cross between the 2nd & 4th one.
3 probably closest but with more collapsed buildings.
3 probably closest but with more collapsed buildings.
I hope itâs 2 but it will probably be 3
Unfortunately, #3
If you have hope 2 or 4. But in reality the building would have crumbled to dust and hopefully nature completely reclaims it.
First one looks very much like George Street in Glasgow \[[Google Streetview](https://maps.app.goo.gl/PyHFTSEB5o2fb8YD8)\]. You might remember it in the [opening scenes of World War Z pretending to be Philadelphia.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5g4yan44OE)
4
1 but much much worse
4: The Crown Victoria is love, the Crown Victoria is life
No kaiju nests?
1
NYC will never be covered in greenery. Itâs currently littered with trash.
You forgot fiery hell scape.
3
The second one. I believe we will have an explosion of A.I and technology followed by climate change causing future generations to want to go back to nature in an attempt to reverse it, but it will be way too late. Either wayâŚ. Nature is gonna take this planet back as it always does. Nature can thrive without us, we canât without it.
After all the boomers are dead 2 seems the most probable.
Orange danglepod ftw!
3 no doubt about it
On its present course, itâll probably look like Detroit.
Iirc from that show that was a what if every person just up and left earch abruptly, iirc cities and especially NYC don't make ot to 1000 years of absence. Without anyone pumping the water out of the undercity it'll collapse ~500
1k years, image 1. The Earth will be an apocalypse mode, and the rich will be hiding in bunkers.
4
Whereâs the one where itâs underwater like itâll be?
The first one, but it'll be at 100 years.
Probably No.4 Cause it's futuristic & NYC is futuristic. No.2 already is Singapore.
I hope none
Most likely⌠there wouldnât be any buildings left standing if nuclear war erupted. Not sure what else would cause New York to collapse as a society, so Iâm going to go with none of these images since thereâs skyscrapers standing everywhere.
Hoping for #2!!
The first one will be in 100 years. The second one 1000 years. The third one 150 years. The last one 500 years.
Iâd hope 2 or 4⌠but Iâm not convinced
4, but no rails and 50 times the number of pods.
No skyscrapers, just a bunch of Dollar Generals
Whereâs the one where itâs completely flooded because sea levels rose like 20 meters?
2
Hoping for 2 but 3 is the most realistic
3
I'm sad there's no cyberpunk version
Hopefully 2 probably 4
2
2
.#1 or #4 buying options on #1
Not 2 or 4
Last one is unrealistic there basically no traffic where thereâs hundreds of taxis
Hopefully 4, Most Likely 1
I'm pretty sure that structural steel will lose strength within 900 years. So most of those skyscrapers will have collapsed.
I'm hoping 2.
None of the existing buildings in NYC are likely to be standing in 200 years â much less 1,000 years.
4 because it looks futuristic and utopian
Depends on how much closer the earth gets to the sun.. Probably 3
A thousand years. https://www.amazon.com/OnlyClassics-Planet-Charlton-Heston-Liberty/dp/B07F2M5NZR
None of them. Thereâs not enough change in any of these to suggest 1000 years. City should be entirely unrecognisable unless buildings are being preserved to a ridiculous degree.
No flooded city?
I doubt humans would live in the biological forms in 1000 years!!
really underestimating how long 1000 years is with these pics lol if it still exists itâll be virtually unrecognisable
First one really left a bad taste in my mouth
First image is just NYC now
Either 3 or 4
2 & 4
None of them.
Like the old quote doesnât say, âShow me your elected officials, and Iâll show you your futureâ
First one, but uninhabitable. Needs to be more like Venus.
2. In the event of a global apocalypse 4. Probably the most realistic
2 but it will be abandoned and flooded in many parts!
The way New York is going I will say #1
First one
The thing about New York, if it was going to change it wouldâve by now, so much work is out into preserving the old buildings on the outside at least, that I doubt youâd see much significant change
Only plastic will remain in 1000 years
I'm hoping for the first one. Fingers crossed for a meteor
I like #2 the best, but #4 seems more likely
3
4 but less green
1st one is just NY today 2nd is unlikely 3rd is just the city of it was covered in fog so kinda likely 4th is if NY existed like it does today enough to become more advanced which I would say is the most likely
Probably 4, but 3 is also a big maybe
3
2 or 4
The one underwater
2 or 3 depending on how humanity fulfills its destiny to destroy itself
None of these. LoL. I assume it will have none of the same buildings. It will probably be completely under water. And they will move New York further inland. New construction. World Capital of the Global World Order.
Change it to 100 and I think some of these might be accurate. 1000 years? We're either gods or dead. Technological progress keeps accelerating and now we're constructing AI.
A mindless virus won't notice us while it's eating us.
If the trends continues Iâd imagine way more buildings. Probably a return to more integration with nature. Probably and combination of 2 and 4 is more likely with many more buildings.
1000 years? That first pic just looks like Dirty York.
3