RSS Feed
If NYC is designed on a grid, then how come it’s hard to find a building or know exactly where an address is? Here are some great hints for getting around NYC.
Fifth Avenue generally divides Manhattan into the East Side and West Side. Building numbers start at 1 at Fifth Avenue and go up as the buildings move East or West of Fifth Avenue. Here’s the chart, which was generously given to us by John Tauranac, author of Block by Block and other fabulous guides to NYC subways, buses, and streets.
East/West Buildings are numbered by block from 23rd – 139th Streets
1 – 40………5th - Madison Aves
41 - 99……..Madison – Park Aves
100 - 140…..Park – Lexington Aves
141 - 199…..Lexington – 3rd Aves
200 - 299…..3rd – 2nd Aves
300 - 399…..2nd – 1st Aves
400 - 499…..1st Ave – Ave A, Sutton Pl, York Ave or Pleasant Ave
500 - 599…..Ave A – Ave B, York - East End Ave
600 - 699…..Ave B – Ave C, East End Ave – East River
West Side from 5th Ave, 14th – 59th Streets
1 - 99……….5th – 6th Aves
100 - 199…..6th – 7th Aves
200 - 299…..7th – 8th Aves
300 - 399…..8th – 9th Aves
400 - 499…..9th – 10th Aves
500 - 599…..10th – 11th Aves
600 - 699…..11th – 12th Aves
West Side from 5th Ave, 60th – 109th Streets
1 - 99………Central Park West - Columbus Aves
100 - 199…..Columbus - Amsterdam Aves
200 - 299…..Amsterdam - West End Aves
300 - 399…..West End Ave - Riverside Dr
Read more to find out how to Find an Avenue Address or Cross-Street, know how long it will take you to walk to your destination, and find a Street Address.
Finding an Avenue address — Let’s say you have a meeting at 522 Fifth Ave – how do you find it? There’s a really easy way to find the cross-street for any Avenue address. Here’s a FREE Cross-Street Finder for you.
Even Streets go East – which means that generally, an even numbered street is going to be East Bound. Exceptions are two-way streets 14th, 34th, 57th, 72nd, 86th, and 96th, plus a few others..
Even Buildings on the South – side of the street, that is, so 250 E 18th St is going to be on your right as you head East. And 307 E 59th St is going to be on the North side of the street.
North/South Avenue Building Numbers are completely random. Sorry, but there isn’t any formula for figuring out if a building is on the East or West side of the Avenue, or if 773 Lexington is at the same cross-street as 773 Madison – because Avenues start at different parts of the city.
20 North/South blocks is about a mile, and figure 1 minute per block if you’re walking.
7 Crosstown Avenues is about a mile, and it can take 3 -5 minutes per block of walking. We did our own survey and found that for the average 5′6″ person walking, it’s:
300 steps from 1st – 2nd Ave
270 steps from 2nd – 3rd Ave,
180 steps from 3rd – Lexington Ave
30 steps to cross an Avenue, such as Lexington or 3rd
15 steps to cross a Street, like 55th or 56th St, and
95 steps to walk a North/South block, such as 42nd - 43rd St (Numbered Crosstown streets are generally 200 feet apart).
North/South Avenues can be as far apart as 920 feet (i.e. going from 7th - 8th Ave) — anyone know which block this could be?
Do you have any hints? Let us know by leaving a comment below.