Architect Explains the Iconic Street Grid of New York City

Michael Wyetzner of Michielli + Wyetzner Architects broke down the street/avenue grid of Manhattan for Architectural Digest, explaining the simple mathematical building blocks that make up one of the most iconic cities in the world.

So essentially, what you have is between the avenues, you have a 200 foot block and then a 60 foot street… And they took that 200 foot block and they divided it in half, and they made a 100 foot deep lots, and they basically divided those lots into 25 foot slivers.

He also shared how to measure how far you’ve walked in New York City blocks.

200 plus 60 is 260, and if you multiply that by 20, you pretty much get a mile, and that’s why 20 New York City blocks is considered one mile.