The Oyster, New York’s first iconic food, was internationally famous...
until it was wiped out.

Ask someone to name a New York food and they’ll say “hot dogs” or “pizza” or “cheesecake”. All good answers.

But ask that same question a century ago, and only one reply would be possible: “oysters”.

New Yorkers devoured oysters. They were sold by street vendors, served in cellars and saloons, and offered in the most luxurious restaurants. Oysters fed the poor and delighted the wealthy. They were eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night snack. They were not only consumed raw (one of the few foods which is eaten alive) they were also fried, baked, roasted, scalloped, steamed, stewed and even pickled. Visitors came from far and wide to sample the famed delicacy. Local oysters were shipped across the country and around the globe. New York City was the world’s oyster capital, home to half of all oysters on Earth.

Notice this is all written in past tense. That’s because there are no more edible oysters in New York’s waters. But more on that later.

Where did all these oysters come from? 

Don’t look now, but New York City lies smack-dab in what was once the world’s most pristine and prolific estuary. Thanks to a huge glacier which, 3 million years ago, carved out a massive fjord (today called the Hudson River) and its watery connection to Long Island Sound (now called the East River), New York was blessed with a stupendous supply of seafood. Not only shellfish, but 200 other fish species, such as bass, herring, bluefish, sturgeon, salmon, carp, perch, trout, pike, cod, and even dolphins, sharks and whales.

The Hudson tidal estuary features fresh water flowing down from the north, and salt water rolling up from the ocean. Where these two meet is Oyster Heaven. The little bivalves form attachments for life (not emotional, but physical) on other shells or rocks, enjoying a stationary existence (not unlike this writer.) They depend on water currents to bring nutrients through their shell openings, which also purify the estuary. When the native people, the Lenapes, arrived on the scene thousands of years ago, they found themselves surrounded by 220,000 acres of oyster beds...enough to completely filter the 100-square-mile harbor clean in a matter of days.

 As delicious as they are, oysters have had many other uses. Their shells were used to pave streets and railroad beds, burned for lime to make mortar, and crafted into wampum by Native Americans. Massive piles of old shells called “middens” have been found throughout the New York area, and are still being discovered today.

Oysters have a “terroir” like fine wines: their taste and size differ depending on the micro-climate and terrain where they grow. The larger Bluepoint oysters hailed from the Great South Bay between Long Island and Fire Island. The smaller but luscious Rockaways came from, you guessed it, the Rockaways. In the 1850’s, all 400 of City Island’s inhabitants were employed harvesting their excellent oysters. During 1827 a strong tide exposed a reef in Norwalk Harbor known as Saddle Rock, revealing a massive oyster bed. Boats raced to the location and in no time flat every last oyster was harvested, fetching huge prices due to their size and flavor. In New York Harbor, the original names for Liberty Island and Ellis Island were Big Oyster Island and Little Oyster Island, each hosting extensive shellfish beds.

Under such ideal conditions, some oysters grew to an incredible size, up to 12 inches, and had to be cut into pieces to be consumed. Author William Thackery remarked that New York oysters were so immense, “it’s like eating a baby”. Yikes.

Diversity from shore to table

In the 1830’s African Americans, who were not allowed to own land along southern shores, came north to Sandy Ground, a small community on Staten Island’s southern tip. The oysters they harvested from Prince’s Bay were highly prized. The impoverished, hard-working people became prosperous, and their wooden shacks became brick mansions. The first free black community in New York, Sandy Ground was well-known as an African American center, attracting other black New Yorkers to move there. During the Civil War it became an important stop on the Underground Railroad, and maintained peaceful relations with neighboring white communities. Descendants of Sandy Ground’s oystermen still live there, and in February 2022 Mayor Adams dedicated a Staten Island Ferry honoring New York’s original free black community. (Select to enlarge:)

In the nineteenth century, thousands of African American New Yorkers found employment in the oyster industry, and some achieved riches and fame as oyster entrepreneurs. They excelled at harvesting, preparing, cooking, and especially shucking (opening) oysters. A good shucker could open 3,500 oysters a day. Many participated in the popular shucking contests held up and down the east coast; the record was 100 oysters shucked in 2 minutes, 3 seconds, without a single shell broken.

African Americans were the chef/owners of many oyster saloons and restaurants. The most famous of all was Thomas Downing (see bio), who became rich creating a luxurious eatery catering to wealthy stockbrokers and politicians, while sheltering escaped slaves in his storerooms. His fascinating story can be read by selecting below: (there’s another link at the end of this chapter)

Getchya ersters here

Originally, oysters were considered a cheap, everyday food. They were sold from street carts and makeshift stands, as plentiful as hot dog wagons are today. They cost a penny each, advertised with cries of “Getchya fine, brave ersters here!”

Seafood vendors in the old Fulton Market tried setting up makeshift tables for shoppers to consume their fresh oysters. These became incredibly popular with tourists, and handy for commuters using the nearby Brooklyn ferries. The most famous of these market oyster bars was Dorlon’s, where wealthy men and society women would line up in their finery to slurp shellfish in the shabby surroundings.

There were also oyster cellars and saloons, as numerous as today’s pizza parlors. On Canal Street, bright red muslin balloons lit by interior candles marked their entrances. You would climb down the stairs, pass through swinging doors, and order the “Canal Street Plan”: all-you-can eat oysters for 6 cents. However, eat too many and the management would slip you a bad oyster, effectively terminating your appetite.

To buy a quantity of oysters, your best bet was to wander over to the East or Hudson Rivers. There, dozens of oyster barges, fresh from collecting their catch, were backed up to the land and tied together, cheek-by-jowl. With their painted 2-story sterns and colorful signs, they looked just like a row of storefronts. By the late 19th century, oyster barges were doing a brisk $6 million annually.

For the ultimate oyster experience at the turn of the century, a visit to the famous Delmonico’s restaurant, or to one of the huge Lobster Palaces in Times Square like Rector’s or Churchill’s guaranteed a memorable if costly seafood feast. Legendary gluttons “Diamond Jim” Brady and Lillian Russell (see bio) would think nothing of ordering six dozen oysters each...as appetizers! Owner Charles Rector called the duo “my 25 best customers”. You’ll find their story amazing:

You can still experience the grandeur of dining in an historic seafood palace by visiting The Grand Central Oyster Bar, recently reopened after the pandemic hiatus. It’s truly the last of its kind. The 1913 vaulted ceilings sparkle above as expert chefs prepare traditional oyster pan roasts in antique steaming pots, right before your eyes. The oysters may not be from New York, but they sure are tasty.

If you’re in a nautical mood, you can enjoy the sun and sea along with your seafood on board Grand Banks, a beautiful schooner docked on the Hudson River at Pier 25. Rock with the waves while you’re served heaping platters of oysters and other delights.

So what happened to New York’s oysters? 

With all this rabid consumption it was inevitable that the oyster beds would become overharvested. By 1820, most of the area beds had been cleared out. The ancient practice of cultivation was tried, with much success. After preparing a seafloor with oyster-attracting bedding (such as shells or broken pottery), minuscule oysters known as “spats” were brought in and “planted”. Carefully positioned in ideal conditions, cultivated oysters grew quickly and uniformly. Soon thousands of people were employed in oyster planting and harvesting, and New York enjoyed a renaissance of shellfish production which lasted well into the 20th century.

Alas, like everything else in New York, Oyster Heaven was not permanent. The city was growing so fast that sewage and garbage began to overwhelm the ecosystem. By 1910, 600 million gallons of untreated sewage was being dumped into New York Harbor every day. 40 trunk lines of sewage emptied into Jamaica Bay alone. Cholera and typhoid, once blamed on poverty and immorality, were discovered to be caused by bacteria, sewage and shellfish. The city began closing its public beaches, and then its oyster beds. By 1927, the last oyster area was shut down, marking the end of oystering in New York City. As Mark Kurlansky, author of the fascinating book The Big Oyster puts it, “Millions of people produce far too much garbage to coexist with millions of oysters”.

The city tried to deal with this problem by building 16 sewage treatment plants, unfortunately producing a thick, smelly substance known as “sludge”, which covered the sea floor with gassy black gunk. They tried landfills, turning thousands of acres of estuary into trash heaps. The one in Fresh Kills, Staten Island was filled to capacity, its contents creating the highest promontory on the Atlantic coastline.

And we can’t forget the poisons. Industrial heavy metals were dumped into the sewer system, along with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (a byproduct of oil), and chlorinated hydrocarbons (from pesticides). Upriver, General Electric was pumping thousands of pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Hudson, while Diamond Shamrock, which manufactured Agent Orange, filled the Passaic River with dioxins. Not only were the oysters gone, but many other fish were killed off or driven out of the Hudson. The few that remained were too contaminated to eat. The entire New York estuary, once one of the most treasured spots in North America, was completely befouled, its seafood industry decimated.

New Yorkers fight back

In 1963, when Con Edison announced plans to construct a power plant along the Hudson, a huge outcry ensued, focusing national attention on the fight. It took years, but the newly-named “environmentalists” won. It is said that the American environmental movement began with the effort to save the Hudson. They took on the largest utilities, oil companies and industries. In 1972, they helped pass the Clean Water Act. Enthusiastic New Yorkers prevented the building of Westway, the super-highway slated to gouge out the Hudson coast of Manhattan. Environmental and educational groups such as Baykeeper, The River Project, and Pete Seeger’s sloop The Clearwater continue to work every day toward cleaner waters.

Thanks to their efforts the Hudson is now considered one of the healthier estuaries in the Atlantic, and is getting measurably cleaner. Almost all the waters are now swimmable and fishable, although the seafood is still not edible.

That may change soon. A group called The Billion Oyster Project has replanted fifteen oyster reefs across New York City. They’ve engaged thousands of students to help restore 47 million oysters, on beds made from shells donated by hundreds of restaurants. These new oysters will filter and clean the waters even further (a single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of seawater a day.) Who knows? Maybe one day we can once again order a dozen Rockaways (or six dozen for an appetizer!) at our favorite oyster saloon.

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