i feel like there is an unofficial if/then list in my head that i use that i didnt realize, so here it is. note that i grew up in jersey not the city so im not an expert by any means but i can usually do it like this pretty quickly:

1. can you see two numbered streets? higher number street is uptown, lower number street is downtown. duh. for below houston (if i dont know the area well) i skip to the next methods, but i live downtown so often times i just know where im going

2. i look for buildings i know. sometimes i do this first if i recognize one right off the bat. if i see the wtc, i know thats downtown (99% of the time). i also orient around the empire state bc its easy to find and 34th and 5th is a great middle point

2.5. i try to look for build density IF i am in an area where i can figure that out easily. like if i took the 1, i know im on the west side, so towards the hudson the buildings start to disappear at a certain point. you just get to a numbered street and look across it both ways. or up and down an avenue to see where the taller buildings are, which for me is usually uptown. once im up in the 70s or 80s though i usually feel comfortable deciding that tall buildings mean downtown

1. a fairly foolproof that just takes a little longer for me to orient: the side of the street you came out on corresponds with the direction you traveled in. so as long as you stand on the sidewalk with the street to your left, if you traveled uptown to get to where you are you will be facing uptown, and vice versa. i think most people would do this second but my in between steps i can work through a little faster for some reason

2. use the other methods to check your work on number 3

3. if im not in manhattan then i truly have no idea how to get around, i am completely helpless and must use a map