Find the address on most of the streets and avenues of Manhattan — quite a simple task in most places due to the decimal numbering system, which started being used in 1861.
Then, each block of streets between the two main avenues were rated a set of 100 numbers. It would be good if this scheme worked and avenues throughout the city, but it happens that even a clear and understandable system crashes. And that will be logical to ask the question, why is this happening?
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If you look at the overall scheme of addresses, Fifth Avenue does not fit into the category of streets, where there are General rules. According to the newspaper the New York Times, in 1940, the city authorities plan to re-enumerate the avenues throughout the city to organize the address system, however, accomplishes such a logical reform was not given the richest and most influential of the citizens of new York for one simple reason – they did not want to change caps on their letterhead.
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Now back still a bit in the past. The basic plan of the urban network of streets and avenues dates back to 1811. In 1838, the Avenue, Fifth Avenue began to be used as a border between the Eastern and Western parts of the Big Apple. Then, the streets that crossed the Avenue, received his orderly numbering – the farther the building set from the Fifth Avenue, the higher was the number, and the rule that worked for both the Eastern and Western.
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As for the avenues, in fairness it should be noted that the proposed changes 1940 would have made the process of orientation in the city even more confusing, because the officials were going to start using the ternary numbering system, the same as in Queens, where the streets are numbered from North to East, and avenues from West to East. Such a system was proposed by the postmen, after the mail carriers and couriers began to suffer due to the constantly emerging new buildings, which were hit by all delivery schedules, changing the numbering of houses.
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But the prospect of becoming Fifth Avenue in an orderly Avenue like Fifth Avenue Association. The members of this organization claimed that the plan would add more confusion in the lives of the inhabitants of Fifth Avenue and businessmen working here as would have to be a huge number of changes in the business records, documents, and even is produced and sold goods. After discussion, the proposal was cancelled.
Even now, the address system is not as reliable as it might seem at first glance, though, because the head of the districts have the right to change the numbering of buildings. In 1980-ies of the «beautiful» addresses have become incredibly popular, as they help entrepreneurs from Manhattan to sell their goods at a higher price. It was then 111 East 45th Street, 164 West 66th Street and 470 Eighth Avenue turned into 237 Park Avenue, Three Lincoln Center, and Penn Plaza 12, respectively.
