How the Ice Age Shaped New York
Long ago, the region lay under an ice sheet thousands of feet thick. It terminated abruptly in what are now the boroughs, leaving the city with a unique landscape.
'At the start of the last ice age, 2.6 million years ago, a sheet of frozen water formed atop North America that kept expanding and thickening until it reached a maximum depth of roughly two miles.
At its southern edge, the vast body deposited tons of rocky debris — from sand and pebbles to boulders the size of school buses. Then, some 18,000 years ago, the planet began to warm and the gargantuan sheet of ice began to melt and retreat.
Today, the southernmost edge of that frozen expanse is marked by a line of rubble that extends across the northern United States for thousands of miles. The largest deposits form what geologists call a terminal moraine.
The intermittent ridge runs from Puget Sound to the Missouri River to Montauk Point on Long Island, forming the prominence that supports its old lighthouse. The ancient sheet of ice also left its mark on a very modern phenomenon: New York City.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/science/how-the-ice-age-shaped-new-york.html?
= new reply since forum marked as read
I grew up in central nj. A place I thought was one of best places in the country to live, was about 15 miles away above the beaches, called the Atlantic Highlands. Made up of extensive very high, lofty cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Staten Island to the northeast, and on clear days the nyc skyline. Has great views including the nearby ocean and ''shore'. But well above the humidity of the shore, and weather moderated by the ocean. Very similar to the high cliffs along the Hudson River for miles along and above nyc. Looking down from those great heights, cars, roads and houses look sort of microscopic, smaller than the view that I saw from a 92 story skyscraper. Thanks to elleng and the NYT, I know now what terminal moraine is, and how the beautiful 'intermittent ridges' [the highlands and cliffs] of that moraine are - and how they so oddly and conspicuously [lot of flatlands nearby] got there. Thanks again. 
