6. West 4th Street crosses West 13th Street
West 4th Street crosses West 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th Streets, one of the stranger geographical oddities in New York City. Manhattan’s grid system, which is mostly regular near New York University, becomes much more confusing in the West Village, with its twisting block-long streets and its own confusing grid that tilts almost perpendicular to the rest of Manhattan’s grid. For instance, between West 10th and West 11th Streets are Charles Street and Perry Street, while West 11th and West 12th Streets are separated by Bank Street and Bethune Street. For the most part, the streets in the West Village are not numbered but rather have the familiar names of, for instance, Christopher Street or Waverly Place.
West 4th Street passes along the southern edge of Washington Square Park (where it is known as Washington Square South), then travels west to 6th Avenue, where instead of going straight, it turns northwest. Then, it curves even more north after crossing 7th Avenue, where it then travels almost directly north up until just west of Jackson Square, one of the city’s oldest parks. The square is actually a triangle, as it is trisected by Greenwich Avenue, 8th Avenue, and Horatio Street. West 13th Street also technically bypasses the park, as it continues west toward the Meatpacking District.