To early visitors, the grid was disorienting: the streets looked alike and offered no landmarks or mnemonic devices to distinguish one from the other. However, as New York matured and the grid was inflected by different neighborhoods, the disorientation of the grid lapsed. Amid the city's plenitude and infinite variety, the grid and its number address system provided an orienting framework. It requires no insider knowledge to find an address; visitors can easily navigate, except where the city is off the grid. New York's street system creates such transparency and accessibility that the grid serves as metaphor for the openness of New York itself!