It's ironic for me to read this today. I was just reading about the defense of New York during the Rev War in "The Glorious Cause" by Jeff Shaara.
I highly recommend this book and its prequel "Rise to Rebellion".
As you likely know, very few remnants of colonial and RevWar times remain in NYC. Fraunces Tavern, St Paul's Chapel and the Morris-Jumel Mansion are the only Manhattan sites that I know of that remain. Happily, they were all touched significantly by The General.
David McCullough devoted several pages in his latest, 1776 to the defenses Washington erected in Lower Manhattan. Also a very good read.
I'll have to add Shaara's book to my Christmas list.
"I highly recommend this book and its prequel "Rise to Rebellion"."
Just finished reading it last Saturday.
I totally agree with you about Jeff Shaara's two excellent books about the Revolutionary period. I read them both and wish he would do more on that period, which I find more interesting that the Civil War period he also writes about.