ABSTRACT
Though parts of Manhattan Island north of Washington Square were settled by the early nineteenth century, in 1806, New York State began an extensive design for Manhattan Island. The result five years later was a uniform grid of twelve north-south avenues and one hundred and fifty five east-west streets beginning just north of Washington Square (Reps 1965: 296). Known as the 1811 Commissioners’ Plan, it is apparent in this plan that Fifth Avenue, which aligns with the triumphal arch commemorating the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration, designed by Stanford White, is slightly askew of the park’s rectilinear geometry.
