Matter is neither created nor destroyed, and locations are the same. If you did make an island off the coast of Manhattan, then you'd only be able to do so th

Matter is neither created nor destroyed, and locations are the same. If you did make an island off the coast of Manhattan, then you'd only be able to do so through the ownership rights of the location. Titles are granted by the government, usually at a price, but sometimes as a handout to special interests. The US Federal Government leases the rights to deep sea oil rigs. If you obtained such a handout to build an island off Manhattan, that would be a transfer from the commons into private hands... but not a net increase in locations.