New York is the perfect place for demonstrating our arguments. Nearly 150 years before M. R. G. Conzen conceptualized the ground plan, the idea was already central to one of the most notable documents in planning history—the 1811 Plan for Manhattan. Today, two centuries later, the enduring strength and remarkable permanence of that ground plan are evident in Manhattan’s streets, street blocks, plots and buildings arrangements—all physical elements originally defined by the Commissioners and John Randel Jr. in the early nineteenth century. This chapter introduces the reader to New York’s unique geography and history. Situated on the east coast of the United States, New York occupies a remarkable natural site shaped by a complex interplay of water and land. The city’s history is singular. From its Lenape origins and early developments to its growth as a small Dutch settlement in the late seventeenth century, New York expanded further under British rule and gained national importance after American independence. By the early twentieth century, it had already become the largest city in the world. The 1811 ground plan was central to this extraordinary process. Over the next two centuries, the ground plan served as a constant element of permanence in a city undergoing constant change.