Extensions and Modifications
The numbered street and avenue plan was eventually continued north of 155th Street. It was also continued into the Bronx: however, the grids on the east side and west side do not match up exactly, especially in the northern reaches of the borough. The numbered cross streets are divided into East and West at Fifth Avenue in Manhattan north of Washington Square Park and at Broadway south of the park (whose southern boundary is 4th Street).
Most of the numbered avenues have been officially renamed over part or all of their route: only First, Second, Third and Fifth Avenues have never been renamed, though some of the named avenues, such as Avenue of the Americas (Sixth), are also known by their numbers. Two additional avenues were interpolated amongst the original avenues: Madison Avenue was built between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue (formerly Fourth Avenue), and Lexington Avenue was built between Park Avenue and Third Avenue. Several other avenues were added to the grid when Upper Manhattan was developed, such as Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, and Saint Nicholas Avenue. The old Bloomingdale Road (which is pictured on the original 1811 map) became part of what is now known as Broadway.
Over the years, portions of Avenue A were renamed Sutton Place in Midtown Manhattan, York Avenue in the Upper East Side, and Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem. Portions of Avenue B were also renamed East End Avenue in Yorkville.
The plan of numbered crosstown streets has survived for two centuries with only minor variations and irregularities, especially below the original 155th Street northern boundary. The most notable irregularities are in Harlem where West 125th and West 126th Streets go off on a diagonal to the north, and in the West Village where a number of streets vary from the original plan. Among them is West 4th Street, intersecting with West 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Streets.
In 1853, Central Park was laid out between 59th and 110th Streets and Fifth Avenue and Eighth Avenues. Other major interruptions of the 1811 plan include the main Columbia University campus in Morningside Heights, the Columbia University Medical Center campus in Washington Heights, Lincoln Center, Morningside Park, Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, and the City College of New York.
Read more about this topic: Commissioners' Plan Of 1811
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