Decode the Manhattan Street and Avenue Grid

Navigating Manhattan is straightforward once you understand the logic behind the grid system. Streets run East and West, while Avenues run North and South. As a general rule, numbered streets increase as you travel North toward Uptown and decrease as you head South toward Downtown.

Distance estimation is another handy trick: roughly 20 street blocks equal one mile, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes of brisk walking. However, Avenue blocks are roughly three times longer than Street blocks, so walking between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue takes significantly longer than walking between 42nd and 43rd Streets.

A classic local mnemonic helps with traffic direction on most one-way cross streets: even-numbered streets generally run Eastbound, and odd-numbered streets run Westbound.