The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011

The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, the foundational document that established Manhattan’s famous street grid. Featuring an original hand-drawn map of New York's planned streets and avenues prepared by the Commission in 1811, as well as other rare historic maps, photographs and prints of the evolution of the city's streets, and original manuscripts and publications that document the city’s physical growth, the exhibition examines the grid’s initial design, implementation, and evolution. The Greatest Grid traces the enduring influence of the 1811 plan as the grid has become a defining feature of the city, shaping its institutions and public life. 

The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same name, edited by Hilary Ballon of NYU, who also curated the exhibition, and co-published by the Museum and Columbia University Press.  

 

Weekday mornings between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm and weekday late afternoons between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm are the best times of day to visit The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011 to avoid crowds.

 

Read the New York Times review of the exhibition here.

 

For the first time, the Randel Farm Maps can be digitally explored here.

 

The Greatest Grid is a co-presentation of the Museum of the City of New York, the New York Public Library, and The Architectural League of New York and is sponsored by the Office of the Manhattan Borough President.

 

 

 

Honorary Chairs

 

Amanda M. Burden

Chair, City Planning Commission and Director,

New York City Department of City Planning

 

Scott M. Stringer

Manhattan Borough President

 

Co-chairs

 

Richard T. Anderson

President, New York Building Congress

 

Jill Chalsty

Founder and Chairman, Community for Education Foundation

 

Todd DeGarmo

CEO, STUDIOS Architecture

 

Ronay Menschel

Chairman, Phipps Houses

 

Mitchell S. Steir

Chairman and CEO, Studley, Inc.

 

The exhibition is supported by generous grants from

Con Edison

The Durst Organization

Dyson Foundation

Andrew Farkas/Island Capital Group

Lily Auchincloss Foundation

New York State Council on the Arts

The Rockefeller Foundation

 

Major sponsorship is also provided by

AECOM

Jill and John Chalsty

Todd DeGarmo/STUDIOS Architecture

Peter S. Kalikow

Ronay and Richard L. Menschel

Nixon Peabody LLP

Studley, Inc.

Vornado Realty Trust

 

Additional support has been received from

American Continental Group, Inc.

AvalonBay Communities, Inc.

Benchmark Builders, Inc.

Suzanne Davis and Rolf Ohlhausen

Cooper Joseph Studio

The 42nd Street Fund

Gardiner & Theobald

New York Building Foundation

The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation

Robert Derector Associates

Silverstein Properties

The Solow Art and Architecture Foundation

Structure Tone, Inc.

Taconic Charitable Foundation

VVA Project Managers & Consultants

Weidlinger Associates, Inc.

 

The exhibition is also made possible with funds from

Manhattan Delegation, New York City Council

New York Council for the Humanities

 

The companion book is supported by

Furthermore: A Program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund

 

 

Featured image:  William Bridge's adaptation of the Commissioners' Plan, 1811.

                          Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division