This captures the spirit of New York. People won't litter the ground, but they'll sure litter the sign.


Starting in the corner of the island, 1st St. at 1st Ave. Okay, there's a whole lot more island on all sides of this intersection. The East Village uses letters, progressing eastward from 1st Ave. starting with A. To the south, streets transition from numbers to names and get a whole lot more confusing. 1st St. is by no means the bottom of Manhattan, just the bottom of the street grid.


The first two show off both the current method of street signage (back in the '80's, signs were black on yellow, no Statues of Liberty) and how many streets have dual designations, particularly in high-traffic areas. Practically every block in Times Square is named after someone, and when NY ran out of people, it continued giving out the special designations. (OK, so 42nd St. reinvented itself. Shut up already.) The brown signs are for historic districts, in this case Central Park Historic Landmark. The Upper West, Lower East, etc. sides, neighborhoods, sections, and other designations all have special "brownies".
Betcha never expected me to mention special brownies.

Be careful walking at Delancey and Orchard.


Looking up 3rd Ave. from Cooper Square.


The Meatpacking District is full of cobblestone streets, all the better to channel the slaughter blood away in rivulets to drain straight into the Hudson River. Best sausage you've ever had, though. The first two photos are Gansevoort St. and 13th St., both facing east from Washington St. The third photo looks west on 14th St. toward the High Line (a former elevated freight railroad) and the fourth photo looks back east from the High Line, showcasing a rare multi-lane cobblestone road. The last photo will surprise you: this is the end of mighty 9th Avenue, looking south.


Speaking of the High Line, here's a view looking west from Washington St. at 13th St.


Staying downtown, heading east to Avenue of the Finest, a former street in front of the NYPD headquarters that's been made pedestrian-only for security reasons. This is right next to the Brooklyn Bridge, which explains the low clearance (along Rose St. to the left).


All of New York City once had 2-head signals. Instead of yellow, red came on before green turned off to warn cars to slow. There are still some 2-head signals around, but they serve only two purposes. Those in Central Park (see link at bottom) are for pedestrians and retain green for walk, red for don't walk. Then you have ones like this along C St. SB at E. 16th St. In this case, it's for the parking lane along the west side of C Street. Solid red (top) means 16th St. has a green light. Flashing red means stop and then proceed, because traffic on C St. proper has the green light to turn across the parking lane. There are other cases like this where a driveway exit gets its own phase, but still has flashing red because it conflicts with pedestrian walk.

8th Ave. NB at 39th St.


EB and WB on 33rd St. at Blarney Rock Pub (I think; I lost the sheet of paper where I wrote down the name, if I ever wrote the name down at all). The paint job is completely wrong on the WB side (vehicular traffic is eastbound-only) - you can tell from the awkward 5 and the clear 3 under the 7. The EB side is correct, right down to the 3/4, but what you can barely see inside the arrow on the left is a "30" - I wonder if this refers to some sort of Route 30 in Ireland? The route is now N87, according to Google Maps, and this sign was apparently taken from Bawnboy.


Crossing Times Square or the Bowery (the second photo is on Division St. WB), the red arrow is what you don't do. Scares pedestrians and bicyclists.


Speaking of the Bowery, Broome St. WB facing it.


Children of the '60's know this sign well, but most are gone by now.


There are now "Thru Streets" in NYC, to move traffic quickly across Midtown toward the Queensboro/59th St. Bridge, Queens-Midtown Tunnel (I-495), and Lincoln Tunnel (NY 495 to NJ 495), as well as to the West Side Highway/West Street (NY 9A) and FDR Drive.


Another modern innovation is the signing of Manhattan's only half Avenue, created in 2012 for midblock pedestrians. You know it's new because it's Clearview.


While we're looking at modern signs, have a gander at 57th St. at 2nd Ave., the only place to catch a bus to Shepshead Bay.


The first sign is from Central Park South, for Columbus Circle, and the second is above the circle itself, one of the only overhead signs in NYC not related to a river crossing or a freeway.


You know exactly where this sign used to be, and it's ended up in North Carolina on display.


Randall's Island is part of New York County, so I'm including this old utility pole on Bronx Shore Rd. WB on this page.

More faded signs.

I-78 (Holland Tunnel)
I-278 (Triboro Bridge)
I-478 (Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel)
I-95 (George Washington Bridge, Trans-Manhattan Expwy.)
I-495 (Queens-Midtown Tunnel)
NY 495 (Lincoln Tunnel)
Broadway
Park Avenue
Madison Avenue
Riverside Drive
125th Street
Central Park
Port Authority Bus Terminal
NY 9A (West St., West Side Hwy., Henry Hudson Pkwy.)
Spuyten Duyvil and the Henry Hudson Bridge
FDR Drive
Harlem River Drive
Brooklyn Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
Williamsburg Bridge
NY 25 (Queensboro Bridge)
Roosevelt Island and Bridge
Wards Island Bridge
Triboro Bridge (Manhattan leg)
Hell Gate Bridge
Willis Avenue Bridge
Macombs Dam Bridge
Washington Bridge
US 9 (Broadway) and Broadway Bridge
Into the Bronx
Manhattan Non-Roads
Back to New York Roads
Back to Roads