OK all you New York City nerds... here's a question about Manhattan geography I'd like an answer to:
On cross-streets below Houston Street, in which direction do address numbers ascend? To the east or to the west?
And, while we're at it:
On cross streets below Houston Street, on which side of the street are odd address numbers? On the north side or the south side?
Obviously, the answers aren't straightforward, or I wouldn't be asking. So when replying (which you can do by posting a comment below) be sure to give evidence--even just an example you're aware of. And if anyone (and I suspect there will be several of you) knows what I'm getting at and can shed some light on historical anomalies, the information will be welcome!
More to come on this topic as research continues, but post your comments for everyone to see in the meantime!
10 comments:
1) I believe that there is no single answer. For example, on Wall Street, numbers ascend as you move east; on Murray Street and Park Place, they ascend as you move west. I don't know it to be true, but imagine that, in general, to the extent there's a rule, 1 on any given street begins at the end closest to Broadway.
2) On the second question (odd on north or south side), on Wall Street, odd numbers are on the south side, on Park Pl., on the north; I don't know if there's a rule determining this.
3) Can you name a north-south street in NYC where addresses ascend as you travel south? (I'm aware of one, but, to be fair, it's not a "pure" north-south street, as it's in a part of the grid where it's a little crooked.)
Here's what I kind of remember:
If the street ends closer to the East River:
They ascend to the east (away from Broadway) roughly down to the Brooklyn Bridge, like on Grand Street. Then they ascend to the west (away from the water), like on Wall street.
If the street ends closer to the Hudson:
They ascend to the west, like canal street
Here's my theory on it: originally, the city was defined on the west side by Broadway, everything to the west was fill. So the East-to-west system made sense since the docks were oriented towards the east river. As the city grew northward, Broadway and Bowery (and to a lesser extent E and W Broadway) became the spines of the city and so streets were numbered around their relation to those streets.
Below Houston, don't the address numbers on cross streets ascend to the east? Goldman Sachs is at 85 Broad (between South William and Pearl), and two blocks east of that is Sullivan & Cromwell, which is at 125 Broad (between Water and South). And aren't the odd numbers on the north side of the street? Both GS and S&C are on the north side of Broad Street. That said, and considering how it sounds like the answer isn't that straightforward, I'm guessing the rule isn't applied uniformly. Come to think of it, Deutsche Bank is at 60 Wall and on the north side of the street too...
Thanks, Josh. Largely confirms what I've been finding during some field trips so far.
I'm sure there are a handful of north-south streets that ascend southward. The only one I can think of off the top of my head, though, is New St. in lower Manhattan, immediately east of Broadway. I'm happy to start collecting and mapping these, too. So let me know if you know of another.
-foggin
Thanks, mfs. If anyone was going to come up with the 90% answer, it was going to be you!
Still some other anomalies out there, so keep comments coming in!
-foggin
The north-south street I was thinking of (Broad St.) is cited by Daniel as an east-west street. Of course, it's a little bit of each....
I think I got the financial district stuff wrong. I looked more carefully and many of the older streets start their #'s at broadway, so while my answer may seem the best, it is probably wrong.
I wonder if there was a renumbering of the streets at some point? This certainly took place on an individual basis when street names were changed- I looked a book of old Manhattan maps I have and the southern part of William Street was "Smith Street". Many streets were renamed in the post-revolutionary era (e.g. Queen and King street no longer exist).
The best example of the craziness is that Broome and Grand #s go in opposite directions.
Another waterfront fill problem in this is that the original east river waterfront was at water street, and the blocks between it and south street got filled in over time, hence the "slip" street names. do the #s on the slips go up towards or away from the water?
Fulton St. runs east to west. Before the late WTC was built, Fulton St. was the only street in the area connecting both rivers.
Also, anyone noticed that with the numbered streets below 14th St, some of them are numbered 100 per block (e.g. 300 at 2nd Av, 600 at Av. B, etc.) and others do not. There is no obvious pattern to this.
Bob Sklar
On at least one occasion, even a large street was renumbered. 6th Av. and 7th Av. were both extended through Greenwich Village only when the subways were built.
In the case of 7th Av, they created 7th Av. South, with its own numbers.
6th Av, however, was renumbered when it was extended south from Carmine St. to Church St. below Canal St. Street guides and ads from the 1920's show two sets of numbers. I've also seen photos of ads for Harlem real estate offices on "6th Av", presumably what is now Lenox Av. Lenox Av. now has its own numbers.
Now here's two questions about 5th Av and 7th Av above Central Park:
1. 7th Av. (now Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.) numbers 1800 at 110th St. Using the numbers in effect below 59th St, this s/b 1960. Did the powers that be think that eight blocks would be pre-empted by a reservoir in Central Park, or were they simply unable to "do the math"?
2. In the space of four blocks occupied by Morris Garvey Park, 5th Av. jumps from 1500 to 2000. The number 2000 at 124th St. suggests that 5th Av. from there to the Harlem River at one time had a different name, but I can find no evidence of this. One person I consulted suggested that this portion of 5th Av. was built earlier than the 10 per block portion opposite Central Park, so they merely continued the numbers at 20 per block up to then Mount Morris Park. This makes sense, but I figured I'd ask whether anyone knows otherwise.
Thanks,
Bob
Typically the even numbers are on the south sides, but Houston Street is an exception, with odd numbers south. Inexplicable.
Incidentally, West Houston Street (west of 6th Avenue) was originally Hammersley place, the street name lost when Houston was widened and extended.
Post a Comment