Metro

City introduces new user-friendly signs to help New Yorkers, visitors see more of the city while on foot

The city’s Department of Transportation believes New Yorkers are lost and disoriented on the city’s mean streets — and need new city signs to get back on track.

One-third of locals don’t know which way is north, and almost ten percent of New Yorkers were lost in the past week, the DOT learned in a new study.

And almost 30 percent of tourists didn’t know what borough they were in.

To remedy that, the agency will erect user-friendly signs for pedestrians.

The agency will place 100 sleek, stainless steel signs in different neighborhoods this summer in a program called WalkNYC, starting with four that have already been constructed in Chinatown.

“There is a clear need for this system,” said DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

The other signs will appear in other crossing points in Chinatown, Prospect Heights and Crown Heights near Prospect Park, the Garment District and Long Island City.

Sadik-Khan said both locals and visitors are more likely to spend money and visit businesses when they know where they are going, and that the signs would help the economy.

“When people know where they’re headed, they’re more likely to open their wallets,” she said.

The signs show area streets, points of interest, information on subway stations and bike lanes and estimated walking times for pedestrians.

Almost one-third of trips in the city are on foot, according to the DOT.

Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said he welcomed the signs into Long Island City.

“This is going to be great and get more people into Western Queens,” he said.

The federal government is funding 80 percent of the $6 million project, with the DOT and business improvement districts chipping in for the rest of the tab.