Manhattan's Grid, Explained

The way New York (one of the biggest cities on earth) was planned like a school group project where everyone procrastinated until last minute before the deadline is incredibly funny

It was immediately apparent this plan was thought up the night before their homework was due. Some of the best work is done this way...

Something also interesting to mention: Broadway isn't just in Manhattan! It runs from Bowling Green through Manhattan for 13 miles/20.9 km, goes for two miles/3.2 km through the Bronx, and then 18 miles/29 km through Westchester County where it finally ends at Sleepy Hollow! It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in New York City, with much of the current street beginning as the Wickquasgeck trail before the arrival of Europeans. This then formed the basis for one of the primary thoroughfares of New Amsterdam, which of course continued under British rule, although most of it did not bear its current name until the late 19th century. Broadway was originally the Wickquasgeck trail, carved into the brush of Manhattan by its Native American inhabitants. This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the Wickquasgeck trail was widened, and soon became the main road through the island. The Dutch called it the Heeren Wegh or Heeren Straat, meaning "Gentlemen's Way" or "Gentlemen's Street". After the British took over, the part of Broadway in what is now Lower Manhattan was initially known as Great George Street, but the name Broadway was eventually given to its entire length because of its unusual width.

As someone from Ireland this is so surreal to me. I live surrounded by green fields, hills, ancient sites, and weird roads that were made to go around the existing landscape. It's quite fascinating to see just how tightly packed and neatly laid out this city is. I've never been to New York, so I only really see snapshots and small areas in films & on TV. This was a great video.

Excellent presentation! I grew up in Chelsea in the 1960s, but went to school in the Village. Chelsea was built on the 1811 grid system; the Village, as you point out, was not. From the time I was old enough to comprehend it, I was struck by that strange transition from the Manhattan grid to the ordered but self-contained planning of the Village. Then there was 7th Avenue South. Even though 7th Avenue South had been driven through the Village some decades before my time, it pushed through the neighborhood rather rudely, with surviving buildings just sliced off at strange angles and some streets, like Bleeker, Barrow, and 7th Avenue South, meeting at strange, extremely acute angles. It really looked like an interloper, and it still does. I think it was one of Robert Moses's early projects, As an aside, many of the landowners were made extremely wealthy by the street grid. In Chelsea, Clement Clarke Moore, who owned the Chelsea estate, was already very well-to-do when the streets and avenues were cut through, but the street grid increased the value of his land exponentially. He brought in an estate manager, James N Wells, to oversee the development of Chelsea beginning in the 1820s. Moore was initially opposed to the 1811 street grid. It required the demolition of his own house, which he loved, to make way for 23rd Street. I am sure all the income from the lots he sold to real estate developers lessened the pain of the bitter pill he had to swallow. Most of the Greek Revival and Italianate row houses in Chelsea were built while Moore was still alive, and most are still there today.

While talking about the origins of NYC streets, the origin of why Canal Street is called such is interesting! Ding ding ding, it's called such because there was once a canal! But there's more than that. The area was once home to Collect Pond, one of the city's few sources of freshwater. In the 18th century, the pond was used as a picnic area during summer and a skating rink during the winter. Beginning in the early 18th century, various commercial enterprises were built along the shores of the pond in order to use the water. For the first two centuries of European settlement in Manhattan, it was the main New York City water supply system for the growing city. It became polluted because of everyone doing their business there, as well as run-off from tanneries. So it was drained via a canal so they could eventually put landfill there. This area is where the Irish first moved to in NYC (because it was all they could afford), which eventually became known as the most dangerous neighborhood in the world, Five Points, because of the area's Irish gangs

This reminds me of the sophisticated urban planning of Barcelona. Heck, they PIONEERED it! Barcelona's Ildefons Cerdà was the guy who coined the term urbanization and changed the way we think about cities! Constricted by its medieval walls, Barcelona was suffocating as its population overflowed and couldn't handle the density with high mortality rates, until the then unknown Ildefons came up with a radical expansion plan. His plan consisted of a grid of streets that would unite the old city with seven peripheral villages (which later became integral Barcelona neighborhoods such as Gràcia and Sarrià). The united area was almost four times the size of the old city and would come to be known as Eixample. Cerdà decided to avoid repeating past errors by undertaking a comprehensive study of how the working classes lived in the old city. He concluded that, among other things, the narrower the city’s streets, the more deaths occurred. He added gardens in each block, made sure access to services for the rich and poor were equal, and made room for smooth-flowing traffic. The octagonal blocks, chamfered in the corners, were his unique idea to deal with traffic, allowing drivers to see more easily what was happening to the left and right. Cars of course didn't exist then, but when he learned about trains, he figured there would be some sort of thing powered by steam that would use the streets. His gravestone, fittingly, is a model of the Eixample.

Growing up in New York, my father told me that in Manhattan, you can never be lost...but you can be in the wrong place. Provided you were north of 14th Street and south of 125th Street. I'd figured out how that was possible...and now I know why.

He just doesn’t miss

I’m a lifelong NYC lover from CT. Part of my love is the ability to find yourself easily, vs. random street names like in Boston.

You are absolutely killing it Daniel! First with the Boston map video, and now this. I immediately subscribed, and am sharing this with everyone I know 👏

I didn’t realize how small of a youtuber you were until I finished the video. I thought you’d have hundreds of thousands of subs. Great video! I’d love to see more about New Yorks human created geography and even the natural geography, especially with Long Island

I really don't understand why anyone hates the grid. It makes it so simple, especially for such a heavily populated city. It's simplicity is it's magic. You know based on the number of the street and avenue where you are geographically. I can't even imagine what a disaster it would be without it.

If this video was an hour and a half. I’d watch it all

Another example of a grid city is the capital of Malta: Valletta. It's tiny (fewer than 6000 people live there), but it's an extremely impressive piece of baroque architecture, replete with churches, palaces, and massive fortifications.

I own both the books used for this video and for the Boston video but I've never really read them so pretty cool to see these two vids with author interviews. Look forward to more.

Keep the videos up! Find it absolutely fascinating learning about the urban geography of these unique cities.

Even as a lifelong Nee Yorker (Manhattanite) whose life essentially revolves around the grid, I’ve learnt a thing or two from this video. Good work!

As a visitor I absolutely loved the grid with the easy logical numbered names. When my phone battery died I could walk back to my hostel without asking anyone for directions

another really awesome video man, you’re absolutely killing it