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Established in 1811, the gridlocked streets and avenues lining Manhattan are so synonymous with the city that they are taken for granted. Considering their profound and lasting impacts into the present, is it even possible to imagine New York City without its ubiquitous right angles and rectangles?

This walking tour will challenge the orthodoxy of the grid, daring New Yorkers to imagine the city as it was, might have been, and could again be amidst a less angular landscape. What is the origin of the grid? What did the city look like before it? What path might the city have taken had its streets been arranged differently? How does the grid impact the lives of New Yorkers? These are a few of the questions which will be explored on this stroll through surviving examples of gridless remnants in the East Village and Lower East Side.