Working

How Does a New York City Archaeologist Do Her Job?

In this episode of Working, we learn what’s buried under New York City.

Alyssa Looyra, an urban archaeologist, in New York City.

Alyssa Looyra

Listen to Working via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

What does it mean to be an archaeologist in one of the world’s biggest cities? In this episode, Jordan talks to Alyssa Loorya, an archaeologist whose job it is to find out exactly what’s buried under New York City.

Along with her Brooklyn-based firm, Chrysalis Archaeology, Alyssa uncovers all kinds of amazing cultural resources as a consultant on construction sites in the city’s many historic districts, from a 19th-century beer hall on the Bowery to the old alms house buried under City Hall Park. With each new discovery, Alyssa pieces together details to find out more about what New Yorkers were like hundreds of years ago.

You can email us at working@slate.com.
Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.