The Normandie ship in New York, 1935.
Many boast of knowing New York inside out but nothing compares to the street experience of Keith Taillon. This New Yorker with calves of steel the goal of walking through each and every one of the streets of the island has been set before he finishes this year so rushed. We have signed up for one of his interesting walks that he conveniently documents on the Instagram account that all lovers of New York and his story should follow: Keith York City.
THE HOST
We found our host near St. Nicholas Park, in what is called Upper Manhattan, in the north of the island. As usual in this cosmopolitan capital, Taillon is a transplant from somewhere else. Texas, in your case. He came to New York a decade ago and he did not escape the ordeal of changing floors multiple times, always in the same district.
The most recent transfer was just a few months ago, in full confinement forced by the coronavirus, and he took him from the lively and very gay neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen to the more serene and increasingly gay Harlem. Hence, the most recent stories of him discover this little-visited area of the city and that our first stop, after following Edgecombe Avenue, is in front of the Hooper Fountain.
Here begins what it became a horse-race track for the fitipaldis of the New York bourgeoisie. It took over a pasture and opened in 1898, first for horses and carriages and later for automobiles, explains Taillon, who turns his attention to the trough of the fountain originally created for thirsty animals and horsemen. **New York's past magically blossoms before our eyes. **
Keith Taillon has set out to walk every street in Manhattan before the year is out.
THE DOCUMENTED PROJECT
Taillon spends hours documenting and planning each of his rides. And more now, with the aim of conquering Manhattan on the horizon. His stories on his Instagram are not limited to illustrating his walks but reveal surprising details of his streets.
"The routine of those of us who live here doesn't let us admire what we have in front of us, we take it for granted," says the New Yorker without slowing down. The city has many layers of history from different eras and you can find the trace just by looking a bit.
taillon r go to the photo archives of the network of public libraries, the city's history museum and the base of the United States Congress to show an unprecedented 'before and after' in all his tours. He is not simply about letting himself be carried away by the melancholy of what New York was, but about analyzing the gear that drives the transformation of large cities.
THE IDEA
As often happens, the idea of combing Manhattan came to him while watching television. Taillon is a huge fan of the Broad City series. As it should be. This hilarious comedy about two crazy 20-somethings, Abbi and Ilana, on the hunt for success in an even crazier city started its fifth and final season with the celebration of the 30th birthday of one of them. To do something special, girls propose kick the entire island of Manhattan, from top (Inwood) to bottom (Batter Park). During the walk, in addition to discovering corners of the city that they hadn't known until then, they find themselves in the most horny and ridiculous situations.
For Taillon it was more of the former than the latter. On New Year's Eve 2019, he took line 1 to the north of the island and, at 8:45 in the morning, began a descent that he completed seven and a half hours later (at 3:16 p.m. to be exact). After those 28 kilometers following Broadway, the longest avenue in the city, he promised himself to zigzag through all its streets in the following 365 days. And without leaving any.
THE OBJECTIVE
For New Yorkers, this year is one of the strangest in living memory. First, the empty streets due to confinement and, this summer, without something integral to its landscape: tourists. with their stories, Taillon intends to bring the Big Apple closer to all those who have had to postpone their trip for a few months. So they don't miss her so much.
"I love helping people in love with New York to see it differently and open their eyes to things they had never seen before," the explorer tells the Morris-Jummel Mansion, the oldest house in Manhattan at over 250 years old.
His fascination with this type of somewhat gloomy structure goes back a long way. He got a degree in History that he later completed with a master's degree in urban planning. Although, things in life, he ended up working for the fashion firm Ralph Lauren in New York. So his rides allow her to channel his great passion.
We are closing our short walk (compared to the ones he usually does), down St. Nicholas Avenue. This is one of the great surprises of the area. this great street It was going to be Fifth Avenue in Upper Manhattan and it is full of large mansions that no one expects.
Our particular guide points to franchises like Starbucks and Chipotle as a sign of gentrification in the neighborhood. But in Harlem and Washington Heights a strong sense of community is still palpable and a rhythm you can't find anywhere else. "Here you can make friends and people are proud of their buildings," says Taillon.
We say goodbye to this wandering New Yorker with the feeling of having discovered a small planet of this great cultural universe that is New York. And we can't wait to devour his Instagram stories which makes them even better. Although he still has a long way to go, at a daily pace of ten kilometers (double on his most intensive excursions), we can say that he is on the right track.