New York: Then and Now

(welikia.org)

Hills and streams dot one of the earliest topographical maps of New York City, making it difficult to imagine that just 200 years ago New Yorkers were more likely to be farming than shopping or catching a cab. “The Greatest Grid: the Master Plan of Manhattan,” is an exhibition taking place at the Museum of the City of New York until April 15, 2012. Curated by New York University professor Hilary Ballon, the exhibition lends imagery and information to this early history of the grid, which is perhaps the most distinctive feature of New York.  

“Everything will have a sentimental edge when we talk about Broadway,” said an enthusiastic tour guide at the museum, smiling while maneuvering her way around each part of the exhibition. She began by explaining the commissioners’ plan for the grid in 1811, proposed by John Rutherford, Simeon De Witt, and Governeur Morris. It was a plan that began largely as a seemingly dull proposal for the development of streets and avenues, although the grid would ultimately evolve to support the skyscrapers and traffic we know today.  In order to implement the plan, the streets needed to be opened and lines had to be redrawn. “This was managed by powerful government bureaucrats,” the tour guide said, explaining that the commissioners were making a value assessment.

With a population of around 100,000 at this time, the idea of the grid was not seen as overly innovative or progressive. Manhattan was still undeveloped and much of the land was privately owned. These plots were unevenly shaped and parceled. Landowners at first fought against the grid. There was much speculation about the plan as real estate became a commodity and many began to keep meticulous records. As a result, corruption began as soon as the grid was implemented. “You better believe there was a lot of wheeling and dealing going on,” the tour guide said. It was not long before mega blocks were formed and squares were set aside as gathering places for the public.

Although the grid was not taken to be groundbreaking at the time, it certainly has revolutionized how New Yorkers live their lives in the present. Joseph Heathcott, Associate Professor of Urban Studies at The New School said that the grid, in a very basic sense, works to organize how we experience New York. “It shapes our daily lives in ways we can’t really estimate,” said Heathcott.

Heathcott pointed out differences in other urban planning initiatives and how the grid was designed. As Heathcott teaches courses in urban space and morphology, he visited the exhibition given its relation to his curriculum and interests. “So many of our courses touch on the grid,” said Heathcott, “It is important to understand the grid as a machine.” A machine, he said, that not only allows for transportation, but also capitalization. By implementing the grid design, shares of land were able to be bought and sold, just as the commissioners imagined.

Despite overwhelming praise for the grid, some modern day New Yorkers still have trouble navigating. “I get lost a lot,” said Molly McCracken, a junior at The New School and native of Los Angeles. Although McCracken can be caught wielding an iPhone, she said that technology only adds more confusion. “I’m still new to trying to figure out the grid,” McCracken said.

            Whether new to the city or native, the grid remains an important and unavoidable aspect of daily life for the New Yorkers of 1811 and those of today. “It impacts my life the same as any other New Yorker,” Heathcott said plainly.