Current Location:
Manhattan New York, New York, United States of America
Site:
The Island of Manhattan
Original Purpose:
The order and distribution of land plots throughout Manhattan
Predecessor:
The Colony of New York
Date of Project:
(From Planning to Completion)
1807-1811
Client:
City Council of New York
Chief Surveyor/ Engineer:
John Randel, Jr.
Commissioners:
Gouverneur Morris, John Rutherfurd, Simeon De Witt
Massing:
155 Orthogonal Streets
Location of cross streets fixed at boundaries of pre-divided 5-acre (20,000m2) parcels
Avenues to be 100 feet (30m) wide, separated by approximately 922 feet (281m)
Streets running East-West are approximately 60 feet (18m) wide, around 200 feet (61m) of separation
(14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th, 72nd, 79th, 86th, 96th, 106th, 116th, 125th, 135th, 145th and 155th Streets were designated to be 100 feet (30m) wide)
Style:
The Grid Plan
Physical Context:
The Commissioner’s Plan was one of the first proposals to pioneer the grid like fashioning of a city’s urban skeleton in the United States. Although Philadelphia was the first to implement a grid design within its streets, the Commissioner’s Plan is no doubt the most famous and historical. Considered the single most important document in New York’s development, the plan introduces a visionary and controversial approach to urban planning. The plan was complimented for its ability in bringing down on a huge scale, controlled and ventilated streets, perpendicular and intersecting. However, it has received criticism as well for ignoring the natural topographic character of the area.
Economic Context:
Bringing in both praise and disapproval, the Commissioner’s Plan was a successful tool by the City Council in bringing in huge amounts of revenue from the sale and distribution of land. Men like Clement Clarke Moore, who owned a large portion of land, earned copious amounts of income from sub-dividing their real-estates and developing them section-by-section along the gridded streets. Jumping ahead into present day time, many urban critics have praised the plan’s foresights and that the installation of wide avenues allowed for retail and commercial traffic to be attracted and conformed to the circulation of the city.
National Context:
The Commissioner’s Plan has been called in the past, “the republican predilection for control and balance.” The method of how the commissioners were given power to pursue the goals of the City Council and the varying motives that drove the whole project are only a couple examples that reflect the political and governing mental state of America during this evolutionary period.