We recently lamented getting around in Queens, but little did we know, somehow, about this.
In Queens, to find locations best
Avenues, roads and drives run west;
But ways to north or south 'tis plain
Are street or place or even lane.
While even numbers you meet
Upon the west and south of street.
-VERSE AFFORDS MEANS TO GET ABOUT QUEENS, Dec 3, 1926. (via)
If only I had known! This is getting taped to the inside of my car for future reference.
I grew up between a Road and an Avenue of the same number, a block from the Drive of said number, on a Place of another number between the same Street and Lane. I now live between an Avenue and a Road, a Street and a Boulevard. I find it best to rely on visual cues when giving directions.
But if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord the G to take.
FUN FACTS BELOW:
After living in Queens for about 18 months, this is what I've worked out RE: the crazy addresses.
XX-YY ZZ St/Pl/La/Ave/Rd/Dr:
XX = The number of the St/Pl/La West of the address, or Ave/Rd/Drive North of the address. If the St/Pl/La/Ave/Rd/Dr has a name, then it's the number that it would be otherwise.
YY = What the street address would be if it were just a normal street.
This is easier than it reads, promise.
Everyone please stay in Brooklyn and leave me alone.
See, this was much easier in the Georgia town where I spent most of my youth. If you ever got lost, you just had to ask for directions from the banjo-playing rapist who abducted you.
Queens will conquer any generalization. I live on a street that does run more or less north/south. But the next "street" down, parallel to this one, is an *avenue*. HOW DOES THAT WORK, DOGGEREL FROM THE PAST? Luckily the bands of cemeteries every few blocks keep us Queens residents from getting too lost.