Today's Theory: New York City was annihilated during the Great War.
A theory that used to be popular but has mostly died out of late is that New York City was destroyed during the Great War. And not destroyed like Boston or Vegas, no, absolutely obliterated, a large crater left in its place. While we know that the city was hit at least once during the war, we do not know to what extent the damage was.
Evidence For:
•It is a fact that New York City was struck during the Great War.
•Naval officer Edward Grath, who survived the Great War, stated in a terminal message that New York City was "gone" with the rest of the East Coast.
•Though the information is canonically ambiguous, it has been noted that the city was already experiencing problems from their nuclear reactor, possibly worsening any strike.
Evidence Against:
•As Bethesda has stated a desire to make a Fallout game in NYC, it might be illogical to wipe out the city.
•No true estimate is given to the damage the city suffered. Even officer Grath's recording is unreliable because he lists Boston and D.C. as two locations on the East Coast, simply gone, yet we know that both of those cities are relatively intact.
•A record on the Prydwen of their travel to the Commonwealth states that "On the flight here, we passed city after city. Buildings taller than I've ever seen. Some that nearly clipped the Prydwen. And who uses them now? Mutants. Freaks." Assuming that the airship took the shortest path, two cities best matching the size description of the buildings on the Prydwen's route are Philadelphia and New York City.
What do you think of the theory that NYC was obliterated during the Great War? How damaged do you believe it is?