The great consolidation of 1898
Manhattan and the grid system
Brooklyn and its independent spirit
Queens and its diverse global mosaic
The Bronx and its cultural revolution
Staten Island and the green coast
YOUR GOAL
Master of The story of New York's five boroughs
schopenhauer The Manhattan Street Grid
To map the city grid they hammered iron deep, And Central Park still holds a secret bolt to keep.
schopenhauer Broadway is one of the few major streets that breaks the rigid 1811 grid, following an ancient Native American trail.
schopenhauer The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 established Manhattan's famous rectangular street grid to prepare for rapid northern expansion.
schopenhauer Align the streets to discover how Manhattan's iconic grid system was planned.
The original grid: The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 did not include Madison or Lexington Avenues; developers added them decades later to increase real estate values on the East Side.
A network of parallel and perpendicular streets forming a pattern of rectangular blocks. The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 established this layout across Manhattan, defining the borough's modern street network.
Do you prefer Manhattan's neat grid system or older cities' winding, chaotic streets?
Which historic, predominantly Black community was demolished in the 1850s to make way for Central Park?
What major document laid out Manhattan's street grid system north of Houston Street?
How many guilders' worth of trade goods did Peter Minuit trade for Manhattan in 1626?
What defensive structure built in the 1650s eventually gave Wall Street its famous name?
Who was the chief surveyor who spent years physically measuring and mapping Manhattan for the 1811 grid?
Which famous street in Manhattan follows an ancient Native American trail, cutting diagonally across the grid?