City weighing new signs to help navigate tricky neighborhoods

The city wants to help you find your way while walking around town — without the aid of a smartphone.

The Department of Transportation is taking proposals over the next month from companies to install signs, which are essentially detailed maps, in Chinatown, midtown, Long Island City and Prospect Heights/Crown Heights by 2013. If they catch on, they’ll be expanded to other neighborhoods.

The maps may also tell you how long it takes to walk to your destinations, transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said.

According to a survey by the city, 9 percent of New Yorkers admitted they had gotten lost in the previous week and more than 25 percent of visitors said they didn’t know which borough they were surveyed in.