A Clever Way to Figure Your Location in Central Park Using the Numbers on Lampposts From the 1800s

YouTuber Alex Bostwick aka Bostwiki, who moved to New York City in November 2017, offers up a very clever way to determine your location should you find yourself lost in Central Park using the seemingly random numbers attached to the vintage city lampposts from the 1800s.

When the builders put in these 19th century cast-iron lamp posts they also put in this; a unique series of four numbers to identify to this lamppost anywhere in the 843 acre park. The first two numbers correspond to the closest cross street on the east and west side…The last two numbers locate the lamp more specifically. Even numbers represent the east side of the park and odd numbers represent the west side of
the park. The last two numbers also increase as one moves towards the center of the park.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.