New York City Street & Subway 101

There's exactly one way to learn how to navigate New York City: trial and error. But if you're only in town for a visit, you'll want to avoid time-sucking wrong turns and wasted subway fares. Here are ten easy tips to help you get the most out of your time in Manhattan.

10) In New York, avenues run north and south. Avenue numbers decrease from west to east, so 12th Avenue is furthest west and 1st Avenue is on the far East Side. On the Upper West Side and in Harlem, avenues assume names rather than numbers. On the East Side, Madison, Park, and Lexington Avenues run between Fifth and Third.

Streets run west to east. The number value of streets increases the further uptown you go. So if you're at 110th Street, you need to travel south to go to 14th Street. The grid goes all crooked in two places: in Greenwich Village (west of Sixth Avenue and south of 14th Street) and below Houston Street, which is the rough divide between Midtown and Downtown.

9) East or West?

You don't need a compass to navigate NYC's East/West divide. Here's the easiest way to tell which way is East and which is West. If you are walking downtown (the street numbers are decreasing), the East Side is to your left and the West Side is to your right. If you are walking uptown, the East Side is to your right and the West Side is to your left. So if you exit the subway station at 34th Street and the next street up is 35th, turn left to walk to the West Side.

8) The Fifth Avenue Divide

You may also wonder why numbered streets are preceded by an east or west prefix. Fifth Avenue is the border between the East and West Sides, so 34th Street is West 34th west of Fifth Avenue and East 34th Street east of Fifth. Also, building numbers begin at 1 at Fifth Avenue and fan out in both directions towards the rivers. So if you are at 200 W. 34th street, you would walk west to reach 300 W. 34th Street.

7) Up is Down...At Least in Midtown...

The transition from underground to topside is less disorienting if you remember that, throughout Midtown Manhattan, subway lines run north-south beneath the avenues above. So the A train - the Eighth Avenue express - runs beneath Eighth Avenue. South of 14th Street, subway lines begin to veer off course towards Brooklyn. Approaching Central Park (59th Street), lines like the BD and 123 run west of the park, while others, like the N,Q, R, E, F, and V cut a hard right at varying points into Queens.

6) Beware at the Subway Entrance

Many subway station entrances provide access to both the uptown and downtown platforms, but some entrances only lead to one or the other. If this is the case, the black sign above the subway entrance will indicate whether it is an uptown or downtown entrance. The corresponding platform - the one that will give you access to the train traveling in the opposite direction - is usually located across the street.

5) Give Me Some Crosstown Love

Remember that most trains travel beneath avenues, meaning they run north-south. However, two lines run crosstown (east-west). The S train (the Shuttle) runs beneath 42nd Street between Times Square and Grand Central Station. The L Train runs beneath 14th Street and travels westward from Eighth Avenue into Brooklyn, stopping at Union Square along the way. A number of buses run crosstown, the most useful of which are the uptown buses that cut through Central Park at 96th, 86th, 79th, 72nd and 66th streets.

4) The Broadway Trick

Broadway often throws people off because it cuts diagonally across the city through Midtown. But here's the secret: Broadway intersects avenues where all the major subway stations are located. Broadway intersects Eighth Avenue at 59th Street (Columbus Circle), Seventh Avenue at 42nd (Times Square), Sixth Avenue at 34th (Herald Square and Macy's), and Fifth Avenue at 14th (Union Square). After Union Square, it straightens out and cuts through SoHo and down to South Ferry, where you can catch the Staten Island Ferry.

3) Express and Local: Same Line, Different Trains

Subway lines and trains are not the same things. A line is a route that a particular train or set of trains travels along. For example, the A, C, B, and D trains run along the same line between 59th and 145th streets. Two trains run on most lines: a local and an express. Local trains stop at every station on the line, while express trains only hit designated stops. If a train stops at a particular station, the train number or letter will be marked next to that station on the subway map.

2) Do Trains Disappear in the Night?

At a certain point in the night - between about 9:30 and 11:30 - certain local trains stop running. At this point, they are replaced by the express train, which will begin making all local stops. For example, the C train stops running at night. Its express corrollary, the A, will then make local stops. This isn't the case with every line though. The B stops running at night and on weekends, but the train it shares a track with, the D, always runs express. The black signs hanging above the subway platform indicate if a train stops running at night.

1) Lastly, a Word on Track Changes

Subway trains are subject to track changes, which means a certain train will stop running along a line and another train will act as a substitute. This is most often due to track maintenance and usually occurs on the weekends. Usually, a non-running local train will be replaced by its express corollary (i.e., the A will replace the C). If you see white posters on the platform columns, pay attention. These are service announcements. They will tell you on what dates and during which hours the schedule changes apply. Also, conductors will usually announce when an express train is running local, or vice versa, especially when the change is due to an unexpected incident or clogged rail traffic.