Any Florida swamp is far more sane and civilized than NYC.
NYC was built on a swamp. Some parts of the city like CoOp City [the residents made it a *swamp* the moment they moved in] in the Bronx were.
There was quicksand in the Times Square area. In 1904, the Hotel Darlington was being constructed on West 46th between 5th and 6th Avenues and it collapsed killing 25 workers because it was partially built on quicksand. The owner of the Hotel Patterson on the 47th St side of the block had quicksand trouble when building his hotel and had to go down 30 feet efore they hit bedrock.