Featured Urban Website: Manhattan Sideways is Documenting Every Numbered Side-Street

Our new favorite online urban eye candy, Manhattan Sideways, makes us reconsider the less documented parts of the grid system. The site is part of an ongoing project to document numbered side streets, starting with 1st street and moving northward; so far, they’ve made it up to 22nd Street. It aims to comprehensively document every business and place of interest on each side street–and we mean every one. Exceptional or particularly interesting businesses get write-ups that read like stories are far more intimate than the average review. Its featured stories explore the history and secrets of parks, gardens, museums, and art galleries–as well the people behind them. All of the accompanying photography gives the idea that Manhattan is constantly under perfect lighting, and that every inch of its side streets could either be part of a fairytale or a magazine shoot.

We’d done neighborhood guides, but we also love the ideas of long walking tours that transverse an entire side street from East to West, or vice versa. It’s a unique, personal, and extremely comprehensive way to get to know gridded Manhattan. When you’re on the go, you can receive alerts and information from Manhattan Sideways from the app Field Trip. Or you can take the less intrusive route keeping up with Manhattan Sideways on the go by following them on Twitter or Facebook. But we recommend keeping up via old-fashioned computer. The web design is engagingly minimalist, the photography is stunning, and stories are written with care and appreciation for the areas or businesses they describe; they deserve a full screen.