IM Pi The Considerate Cartographer Breaks His Silence

Do you remember the "considerate cartographer" who stenciled compasses outside subway stations all over Manhattan this summer? Recently, someone going by the name of IM Pi and claiming to be the artist reached out to NYC The Blog through an intermediary, offering more information about the project. Though both seemed unnecessarily evasive and mysterious, sometimes annoyingly so, NYCTB was able to get some questions answered.

Stenciled Compass Project Expands To Most Subway Lines

An unknown street cartographer recently began stenciling directional compasses along the Lexington Avenue 6 line for the directionally disoriented. And now the considerate cartographer has apparently expanded the project to include as many subway lines as possible. Over the weekend, compasses were noticed on the 123 line at Houston and Varick, and on the BDFV line somewhere at 2nd Ave! Stations at the 6 line, the 123 line, the FV and NRW now all have stenciled compasses.

What's more, members of Reddit have discovered the project, and have noted other stencils at varying locations. In addition to the lines spotted above, they have seen on the L train line and at the 14th Street Path station.

Sidewalk Graffiti Provides Navigational Assistance For Subway Commuters

A considerate cartographer wielding a stencil and a can of spray paint has left a helpful navigational compass at the top of the stairs outside the NRW train at Prince Street for commuters exiting the station. As even native New Yorkers cant attest, everyone has exited a subway station and needed a moment to reorient themselves; a directional compass will make it that much easier. The unknown compass crusader stenciled the sidewalk at the uptown 6 train station on Spring Street as well.

[UPDATE: Spotted one at the uptown 6 Bleeker Street station as well.] [UPDATE: 06.21.10: Our anonymous cartographer has been busy, the compasses are appearing all over town.]

Using sidewalk compasses is an idea that has been tried before by both official and unofficial sources. In 2006, a blogger snapped a photo of a compass on the sidewalk at the 8th Street L station; someone else caught one on Bleecker. The City of New York's Department of Transportation got in on the act in 2007, installing compass decals in the ground at selected stations around midtown, in a pilot program that doesn't seem to have been continued.

Below, see the decal on Spring St. at the uptown 6 train station.