Now We Know What Borough Presidents Do . . .

. . . basically put themselves in perfect position to become mayor, by defining leadership:

Fifth Avenue, the glittering central spine of Manhattan, is the undisputed divider of the city’s famous street grid: east of Fifth is East, and west of Fifth is West. Been that way since 1838.

So when Scott M. Stringer, the borough president of Manhattan, was walking along Fifth Avenue by Central Park this week, he noticed something peculiar: every bus stop sign on the sidewalk seemed to be wrong.

A stop across the avenue from East 84th Street was identified as “5 Avenue & West 84 St.” Same for the stop at Fifth Avenue and “West” 72nd Street. The peculiar signage continued all along the length of the park.

Mr. Stringer, who deemed the signs misleading, sent a stern note on Tuesday to the city’s Transportation Department, demanding that the apparent errors be fixed.

It is unclear, however, whether the signs are in error at all.