How do you find cross streets for addresses in the city? I don' t own a Palm Pilot, so downloading some sort of program is out of the question. I've heard there's some formula but math is not a strong point for me. Help!
Alexis B., Chelsea
The formula of which you've heard predates fancy PDAs and is a useful tool for finding specific locations on the grid. But you're on your own below Broadway and 8th Street when the streets lose their numbers and gain names like Spring and Canal. Don't even think about any sort of formula for Greenwich Village.
Let's do an easy one. Let's say you have no greater wish than to stand outside of the MTV headquarters and scream your head off during TRL. You've been told the address is 1515 Broadway, but somehow don't know that it's located in the middle of Times Square.
Here's what you do.
Drop the last figure of the address and you'll have the number 151. Divide by 2 and you'll have 75. (75.5 to be exact, but we'll round down to make things easier.)
Now it gets complicated. Using a handy chart that you could clip from the phone book or print from the NYC & Company's website, you'll see that you need to subtract the number 30. 75 - 30 = 45. Sure enough, MTV is located on Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets.
Whew. When you consider the different numbers you'd have to subtract or add for other areas of the city, this is kind of a pain. (Addresses on Columbus Avenue require you to add 60, 8th Avenue requires a plus 10, 6th Avenue requires a negative 12, etc.)
Maybe you should just buy a Palm Pilot.
