Scanning tunneling microscopy investigation is performed on a nitrogen(N)-adsorbed Cu(001) surface. Grid-like nanopattern of 4-fold symmetry is well-known on N/Cu(001), where square N-islands of the size, ca. 5 nm × 5 nm, are aligned along both [100] and [010] directions. We find for the first time a ribbon-like nanopattern in a region vicinal toward [100] with a long-annealed specimen. In the vicinal region, parallel steps run along [010], and each (001) terrace is so narrow as to accommodate only a single N-island in width. These N-islands are aligned perpendicular to the steps, resulting in a ribbon pattern. Closely-spaced parallel steps lower surface symmetry locally from 4-fold to mirror. We ascribe the ribbon pattern to the lowered symmetry. N-islands in the ribbon are changed to rectangles, in marked contrast with squares in the grid. We discuss the square-to-rectangle deformation by considering the shearing strain between the topmost N-adsorbed layer and the second Cu layer. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2016.43]