The last time New York was civilized...

General Sir William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB, PC

During the American Revolutionary War, on September 15, 1776, British forces under General William Howe occupied New York City, which then only consisted of the southern end of Manhattan. American General George Washington had recognized the inevitability of this event and had withdrawn the bulk of his army from harm’s way. Washington and Congress rejected the counsel of some that the city be set on fire by departing soldiers as a means to deny a comfortable home to British soldiers during the coming winter. Instead, the Continental Army left the city intact and marched north to Harlem Heights at the opposite end of Manhattan Island, about 10 miles from the enemy.