I’ve always had a love of numbers and have enjoyed studying the street and avenue numbering systems of New York City, specifically Manhattan. For the numerically inclined, there is no better place. Here, north of 14th Street, the borough is a numbered grid. The original design was created as the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811.

There is a method to the madness of the street and avenue numbering. Algorithms are available and have been translated to various forms of address calculators, available in phone books, maps, tourist guides, and online. They can also be found as small, laminated wallet-sized cards – I have carried such an address locator since my early days in New York City in 1969.

Locating avenues given the numbered cross street address is relatively simple and really requires no guide, calculator, or GPS. Fifth Avenue divides Manhattan into East and West. Cross street numbers increase moving away from Fifth, typically by 100 per block. So, for example, 325 East 57th Street will be between 2nd and 1st Avenues.

Locating streets given avenue numbers is more involved. There is an algorithm, but it is complex, with many exceptions and special considerations for certain avenues. Here, it is better to use a chart or calculator such as the one that I have customized. Enjoy your Manhattan Address Locator 🙂

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My first big family trip was to Washington, D.C. at the time of the Cherry Blossom Festival. This was also the first large city I was to explore and a major event that greatly influenced my desire to move to New York. Though only 12 years old, I had planned the trip, itinerary, and accommodations and even navigated the driving. I had mailed for brochures and maps and had searched our local library. I was so excited.

The choice was the Envoy Motel on New York Avenue – how predictive. I recall arriving at the motel and my sisters jumping up and down on the bed with glee. It was the first time we had stayed in a motel or hotel, and this luxury called for indulgence and jubilation. We had no idea as to whether this was the Waldorf Astoria Hotel or a dump, and as children, it mattered not. One of the joys of being a child or being around them is the enjoyment of simple pleasures and immersion in the world without pretense.

Back at home, for a short time, we had a small plastic pool, much like that in the photo. But it was not inflatable and setting up was a bit of a project, so when our parents agreed to do so, it was a big event. To us, this cheap vinyl pool, barely deep enough to submerge ourselves, was a great source of summer joy. I would watch my young sisters splashing and frolicking about like it was an event in a full-size Olympic pool.

Recently, while exploring Queens, I stopped to visit a small community park on a hill in Woodside. This was strictly a local park – nothing of note to a visitor, just neighboring residents on a hot summer day. This was not the world of the very affluent with country homes or summers in the Hamptons. This is the real New York of the working class and how the vast majority live their lives and spend their summers. Many city dwellers have no air-conditioning, and there is little respite from from the oppressive summer heat.

But make no mistake. For the children playing, the joys appeared to be the same as swimming in an Olympic-sized pool or summering in the Hamptons. And I know they would love a room at the Envoy Motel 🙂

One of my best friends is a Brooklyn-born Jew turned Christian. How he got there is a long story, perhaps for another time and place. We have a long history, he knows my position, and although he does not proselytize, we do often discuss religion.

On one occasion, we spoke generally of whether or not I believe in God. I said that essentially, I am agnostic, and that I would like to believe, but I so wish for a sign, any sign at all. He responded that the signs are all around us and that I just don’t see them. I am sure there are signs, but are they really from God or a product of one’s mind?

These types of theological questions have been asked for millennia, and answers have been thought through and articulated to the point where discussions like this become rather formulaic.

On a recent day trip with my aforementioned friend, we were making our way towards Floyd Bennett Field and Dead Horse Bay via the Belt Parkway. We briefly pulled into a small turn out area to describe to our fellow travelers the activities that can sometimes be seen here, such as kite flying.

Upon leaving, I was struck by the appearance of a Hasidic Jew on the roadside combing the area. This type of stark contrast of orthodox religious clothing, particularly on a summer day, though not uncommon, is always startling. On the hottest of Saturdays in Borough Park, Brooklyn, orthodox Jews can be seen strolling fully clothed in black pants, long sleeved shirts, and wool hats.

As we sped away, I regretted not having stopped quickly and asking what this man was looking for. It seems that we were all searching that day and signs were all around us…

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I was a little disappointed to learn that according to a 2007 British Study of walking in 32 cities around the world, New York did not top the list of fastest walkers. Singapore bested the list, New York came in at number eight. Nonetheless, we got some fast walkers and we did come in fastest in the USA.

New York City is a fascinating smorgasbord of things to see and walking is a joy. However, I have walked daily to my current office location for 21 years. So at times I do get a bit bored and my mind wanders. I have always liked numbers and playing with them, so inevitably, I ponder the numbers associated with streets, blocks and walking.

I have often timed my walking. In Manhattan, there are 20 north-south blocks to the mile. A brisk pace is about 45 seconds per block. Do the math and that is a 15-minute miles or about 4 miles per hour. The pace of some New Yorkers is astounding. On a stroll last night, following a much shorter woman, I tried to match her pace. It was quite an effort and I am sure she was walking in excess of 4 miles per hour.

I have to walk through or around Washington Square Park to go to work. Having been a lover of mathematics, the prospect of not taking the diagonal is anathema. But how much distance and time do we save? I have about 15 minute walk to work, which has given me ample time over many years to do a myriad of calculations related to walking distances and times in the city. Doing these in your head is tedious and much longer than using aids but the time does pass more rapidly.

Washington Square Park is about .5 miles around. So the distance around the park (one length and one width) walking to my destination is half the circumference or .25 miles. The park is about twice as long as it is wide. So if A is the short side, 2A is the long. The total distance around is 6A. A is therefore .50/6 or 1/12 mile.

Now Pythagoras says: a² + b²= c². So now we have one side as 2A and one as A, so(1/12)²+ (2* 1/12)² = c². Solving this is rather simple – 1/12 ² is approx. .0069. 2/12 ² is approx. .0278. so c²= .0069 + .0278 = .0347. So, c= ? 0.0347 . or .187 miles.* So we save: .25 miles – .187 miles = .063 miles, or a little more than one standard north-south Manhattan block. So we save about 1/16 of a mile or one minute walking.

In Sirens of Convenience, I told about a fictional New York City character created by a friend who throws money away. At times, in a similar spirit of reckless abandon, I flaunt time and distance. Perhaps I stroll leisurely, enjoy the walk and just let that woman move ahead of me. With disdain for the diagonal, I’ll just walk around the park. Distance? Time? I don’t care about distance or time. I throw them away. In fact, here’s 1/16 of a mile and one minute. I’m throwing them away 🙂

*Square roots can be done in one’s head, but it is extremely tedious and requires good memory. Just start with a guess and through an iteration process, you can come quite close fairly quickly. Just don’t get hit in traffic doing the calculations.

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I was once in a restaurant with a friend in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where a family of four was finishing their dinner. The two children were playing with food and every condiment on the table. Sugar packets had been opened and the contents were everywhere. Salt, pepper, uneaten rice, dirty utensils – all had become playthings. Food was everywhere and the floor (carpeted unfortunately) was covered in food debris. The parents made no effort whatsoever to stop the activity. There was a sense that these were children and that is what children do.

Where I grew up, that is what children do, shortly before execution.

This is the parents’ fault, of course, and in many instances in the city, I have seen extraordinary examples of parents indulging children in grossly inappropriate behavior. No one says anything, lest they be perceived as child haters or interfering with other people’s business.

I am intrigued by etiquette. So seemingly quaint and outdated, yet I am fascinated by the thinking and history behind what often appears to be arbitrary or whimsical rules of conduct. And in any world or society, particularly one so complex as where we are now, there is a huge appeal for doctrine, dogma and customs. Life so much easier with a rule book.

I expressed this interest in codes of behavior some years ago and was gifted a copy of Emily Post’s Etiquette. I was surprised to see it was still published – the classic tome is now in its 17th edition.* A guide to every aspect of social behavior is covered, even including how to eat bing cherries. There are also sections on the etiquette of things that new technology has ushered in – cellphones, email, use of iPods, etc. and changing progressive mores – sex, dating, relationships, gay lifestyle.

There is also urban etiquette, covering things specific to the city life – crowded sidewalks and streets, subways, taxis, umbrellas, doormen, apartment life. Urban issues provide plenty of raw material for comedy writing – many of the minutiae of urban living which beg for some form of urban etiquette have been the subject of classic moments in TV shows like Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Frasier et. al. Although some plot themes appeared to be farcical and hyper exaggerated, like Covenant of the Keys, they were in reality issues that are often very important in city life.

The New York City subway is heavily used and the perfect environment for observing every manner of manners. Some see it no differently than the great outdoors. It can be dog eat dog and every man for himself. Others try to maintain a sense of decorum, following rules of urban etiquette.

The photo was taken on the D train to Coney Island for the Mermaid Parade. As I approached my destination, my fellow riders appeared to become more casual – one had a cigarette and the other had his feet up on a pole. Where I’m from, there’s no problem with that, shortly before execution 🙂

*Emily Post died in New York City in 1960. The Emily Post institute still survives and is headed by Peggy Post, Emily Post’s great-granddaughter-in-law.
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If you would like to see hard evidence of the decline/death of print media, take a walk to 60 Fifth Avenue and see the historic 12 story, 122,000 square foot shrine to publishing. The large limestone edifice has always intrigued me. It is so prominent on lower Fifth Avenue and its Greenwich Village location between 12th and 13th Streets always seemed such an unlikely location for corporate headquarters for Forbes, most well-known for its flagship business magazine of the same name.

The structure was built in 1924 for book publisher Macmillan & Co. It was designed by architectural firms Carrere & Hastings, responsible for so many New York City icons such as the New York Public Library and the Frick Museum. Forbes took occupancy of the building in 1962 when Macmillan moved uptown.

The American Institute of Architects is not, however, so enamored with the structure:

For four decades, Macmillan conducted its publishing in this pompous limestone cube whose boring surfaces are embellished here and there with echoes of Rome’s glories.

In 2007, during a much headier real estate market, Forbes nearly sold the building for $120 million ($140 million listing price) to Renta, a Spanish real estate company. By 2010, the market had declined substantially and the property was sold to NYU for a reputed $55 million. NYU will not occupy the building immediately – Forbes has a five-year lease-back agreement.

The sale did meet with community opposition as does every NYU property purchase. On April 16, 2009, in Gorilla and Cookies, I wrote:

NYU is seen by many Greenwich Village residents as the neighborhood 800-pound gorilla. Every real estate move it makes is highly contentious and seen by opponents as the act of an avaricious behemoth whose appetite for properties is never sated. Perhaps a new variant of an old joke might be: “What real estate does an 800-pound gorilla buy?” “Whatever it wants.”

Limestone is commonly used as a building material, including libraries as well as the Forbes building. However, it is partially soluble. We worry that the acid in rain damages limestone and that the acid in wood pulp destroys the paper in books and magazines. We never saw the future and that the real enemy of print media and the limestone structures that house them would be electronics, not acid…

Connections was a BBC TV series hosted by British science historian James Burke. I enjoyed many episodes of this tour de force, each show exploring a nearly mind numbing web of interconnections, driving history and innovation in what the program called an “Alternative View of Change.”

The prospect of living in New York City for many is intimidating. Apart from the costs, many feel that a person can get easily lost and devoured by a large monster, leaving no traces. There are countermeasures, such as making connections, which make the difference between feeling like an outsider versus an insider or a bystander versus participant. Friends and family are key, like anywhere else, to a quality life. Connections with colleagues, coworkers, business owners, etc. also aid to make New York feel like home and not the cold, impersonal place that visitors or observers may perceive.

If one is fortunate to have relationships with accomplished individuals, they can provide the personal connections to people and things that make New York City the great place that it is for advancement and pursuit of dreams and goals difficult to achieve elsewhere.

Those obsessed with brushing against the powerful, hoping mere proximity will bestow fame and fortune, will find any real benefits to these pursuits to be illusory. But when kept in proper perspective and for those with skills who can truly make use of opportunities, connections to the talent pool of New York City can be instrumental in success. It’s not just the cliched who you know, but what you do with the privileges granted by who you know.

In the 1980s I was introduced to an exceptional graphic artist, Michael Samuel, whom I hired to do freelance illustration. On one visit to his office, I asked to see his portfolio of work – I was impressed to see the History Channel logo, something he designed while at William Snyder Associates, who used to work with legendary CBS television designer Lou Dorfsman.
The concept was something heraldic, royal and classic but not specific. I have seen this logo and billboard for years on my many trips out of the city. Every time I pass by via the Willis Avenue Bridge, I think of Michael, his exacting work, and how lucky I was to have someone with his expertise working for my small business. He says about this logo:

One of the highlights of my career is this logo for The History Channel. Developed with William Snyder Design, this remains one of my favorites. Computer memory was so limited that each facet had to be saved in a different file. A relatively unknown station in it’s infancy, this cable channel has become famous for their interesting and diverse programming. The 60 foot, 3-D, glowing billboard at the end of the Triborough Bridge in the Bronx doesn’t hurt either.

Be not deceived, however, because in this city, talent is often found in the least likely places – like a man’s artwork displayed on the roof of a building in the Bronx and most often viewed from a bridge or behind a chain link fence. I wish you good connections 🙂