(across the) "block" ~= street, and the OED?

[Jonathan Lighter]

> "A nonlocal looking for, say, 150 W. 72 St. and
not viscerally aware of the E/W division at Fifth Ave. could easily be
misled into heading down E. 72 St."

Except that the sign on the opposite corner actually says "E. 72 St."  Also,
that nonlocal, looking for a West 72d Street address, would have to have
wound up on the East (wrong) Side in the first place. Not impossible,
but the fault of bad planning and  confusion, not the street sign.

Also, changing the sign alters the city from my memories of it, which is
something I do not support.

JL


On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 11:08 AM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: (across the) "block" ~= street, and the OED?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "In practical terms, it is absolutely inconsequential" *to people who live
> there and know the system*. A nonlocal looking for, say, 150 W. 72 St. and
> not viscerally aware of the E/W division at Fifth Ave. could easily be
> misled into heading down E. 72 St.
>
> I grew up in NYC and know the Manhattan system well. I have lived and
> visited and gotten lost in many, many other areas where such critical
> knowledge is assumed. For example, in the Boston area (as I recall it),
> corners generally have signs identifying the cross street -- that is, the
> smaller street -- but not the artery, apparently on the assumption that you
> obviously know what street you're ON and are just looking to find the one
> to
> turn off to. If you're coming along a neighborhood street, conversely,
> you're supposed to be able to recognize the artery when you reach it.
>
> And then, in Boston and Philadelphia and probably every city, there are the
> corners with no signs at all, leading to cell phone calls like "HELP! I'm
> at
> You-obviously-don't-belong-here and None-of-your-business!!"
>
> Mark Mandel, geographically challenged
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 2:43 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > The "300 block" usage was unknown to me also in NYC, but it is very
> common
> > elsewhere.
> >
> > Those "W. 72d St." signs have been there for as long as I can remember.
> >  The
> > reason is that the division between East Side and West Side begins (or
> > perhaps "began") on the West (Central Park) side of Fifth Avenue.
> >
> > In practical terms, it is absolutely inconsequential because it has no
> > effect on address numbers on Fifth Avenue. There are no addresses "on" W.
> > 72d St. as it wends its way toward Central Park West, or on any of the
> > other
> > handful of "transverses" through the park. The W. 72d St. addresses begin
> > on
> > the other side of Central Park.
> >
> > Another ex. of people with not enough to do and not enough on their
> minds.
> >
> > JL
>  >
> >
>
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