On more than 1800 lampposts in Central Park, you'll find metal navigational markers with four numbers designed to help you navigate. The first two numbers indicate what street you're aligned with in New York City's grid, the last two indicate east or west.
from the early 1800s planted by John Randel Jr. as he was staking out intersections for the grid. Of course, nature claimed this area of Manhattan in the end, and the intersection would never come to exist.While traversing Central Park, you'll find a built-in way to help you navigate where you are, should you lose your way in the bucolic setting.
The first two numbers indicate the street you are aligned with, and the last two numbers indicate east or west. If it's an odd number, you are closer to the West Side, if it's an even number, the East Side. Vincent Barone, the DOT's press secretary, told Gothamist there is currently a tag on all 1,863 lampposts."There is no record available that shows who and when someone came up with the idea to install these navigational markers on the posts," Barone said.
As for the timeline, former Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told us, "They’ve been on there as long as I can remember, going back to my NYC Urban Park Ranger days in 1979." The Conservancy didn't have an exact answer, either, though offered a guess of the 1960s, when the lighting was replaced.