A weakness of the Queens street numbering system devised by Charles U. Powell of the Queens Topographic Bureau in the 1910s was that in order to keep east-west and north-south streets on the same general latitude and longitude, there were actually too many streets that had to be numbered. Thus, in Forest Hills, most east-west numbered streets are duplicated and you have 67th Avenue, 67th Road and 67th Drive before the number turns over to 68th Avenue. This was carefully regulated, though, as when more than one number is used, Avenue always comes first, followed by “Road” and then “Drive.” on those rare occasions when a number had to be repeated a 4th time, “Terrace” was used. Similarly, for north-south numbered streets, “Street” comes first, followed where necessary by “Place, “Lane” and if necessary, “Court.”
I have been paying more attention to the small tiles signs the IND Subway designed in the 1930s used in mezzanines to direct passengers to exits. In most cases they were tiled; but, on occasion, you’ll see signs. painted directly on the tiling, as here. Sometimes, these painted signs also pointed to buildings (some exist that direct peoiple to buildings no longer standing) as well as public toilets, that also are no longer there. As a matter of fact I have a photo of one such “TO TOILETS” sign tacked on a doorway near my bathroom for the benefit of visitors.
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