Rethinking the NYC Street Grid Event at CUNY

The Gotham Center for New York City History has announced Rethinking the Grid, a program looking at the NYC street grid, has been set for Monday, May 6th, at 6:30 pm, in the The Graduate Center of CUNY, Skylight Room (9th Floor).

Although the Manhattan grid plan was conceived over two centuries ago, its impacts on the city and the mystery surrounding its creation continue to foster controversy and debate. Four scholars will challenge some of the widely-held myths and misconceptions about it.

Gerard Koeppel, author of City on a Grid: How New York Became New York, recounting the history of the plan’s creation, with new details about John Randel, Jr. and the Commissioners;

Jason Barr, Professor of Economics at Rutgers University-Newark, author of Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan’s Skyscrapers;

Leah Meisterlin, Assistant Professor in Urban Planning at Columbia University, whose recent work with Gergely Baics carefully maps how the plan impacted land use in mid-19th c. NYC, using cutting-edge GIS research to dispel misconceptions about the grid; and

Gergely Baics, Associate Professor of History at Barnard College, who has published new research with Leah Meisterlin highlighting some of the “hidden” impacts of the grid.

Moderator: Sarah Henry, Chief Curator at the Museum of the City of New York, who oversaw “The Greatest Grid” exhibit.

You can read some of all four scholars’ research in the Gotham blog series “The Manhattan Street Grid Plan: Misconceptions and Corrections.”