1811 Manhattan street grid

The 1811 Manhattan street grid is a plan that organized New York City’s streets into a logical, rectangular pattern. It established avenues running north-south and streets running east-west, creating a uniform layout across Manhattan. This grid was designed to facilitate orderly development, transportation, and property division, especially north of Houston Street. Although it initially excluded the southern neighborhoods, it laid the foundation for the city’s expansion, making navigation and real estate development more straightforward and efficient as Manhattan grew into a major urban center.