ON THE ’WAY!
For a visual history of NYC,take a walk down this 13-mile stretch of Broadway with moments from Gotham’s past
EVER since George M. Cohan wrote “Give My Regards to Broadway” back in 1904, Manhattan’s longest street has been synonymous with theater and the throng of Times Square. But as every New Yorker knows, each section of Broadway, from the Canyon of Heroes in the Financial District to its winding finale in Inwood, has its own unique charms.
Author William J. Hennessey has cataloged the best of the street in his new book, “Walking Broadway: Thirteen Miles of Architecture and History.” As a self-professed “stage-struck teenager,” Hennessey used to commute to Times Square in the 1960s to score theater tickets. Hanging out in Midtown, he realized that Broadway had more to offer than just its playhouses, and he concocted a plan to traverse the entire length of the street. Life then intervened, and it was only recently that Hennessey was able to complete his goal of walking the entire street while photographing its riches.
While the author hasn’t walked his route in one go, plenty of others have done Broadway’s entire length as a single-day walk — and with Hennessey’s book in hand, it might be the perfect socially distanced outing for COVID times.
In 2013, Bruce Smith, 35, was inspired to walk every block in Manhattan when he realized he was often “only experiencing the city in ‘pockets’ — the five or so blocks surrounding my apartment and office.” He capped off his epic 508 miles of exploration by walking Broadway from north to south, beginning at 221st Street and ending in Battery Park. (While Hennessey’s book is arranged for a northbound journey — which allows the history of the city to be presented somewhat chronologically — it seems more popular to make the trek in a southbound fashion.)
Smith notes that what’s great about a Broadway saunter is that it takes you “through a great cross section of the city. You’ll see and transition through a dozen or more neighborhoods and . . . really get to watch the city unfold.”
James Clark, 48, a travel writer for NomadicNotes.com, concurs. When he walked the length of Broadway, what jumped out at him was how it served as a “great way to see more of the city” (especially lesser-known areas north of Central Park), although he admits it can be a “challenge” to keep from “being distracted by other streets” along the way, where you could easily “end up doubling” how much ground you cover. Hennessey — well aware of these lures — includes a number of places not strictly on Broadway in his book.
Rob Ndei, 45, is an avid walker and was recently inspired to mask up and walk 8 of Broadway’s 13 miles “by the need for exercise and by the fact that it is one hobby I can enjoy at this time.” Doing the walk now has its advantages, he says: “There are a lot less people on the street now than pre-COVID, which is a plus.” But Ndei also admits that “the mask makes it a little difficult for a brisk walk.”
In the end, “Walking Broadway” is about seeing the city with fresh eyes. Hennessey urges readers to take the time to look at the buildings — often best viewed from across the street — and enjoy Broadway’s relative emptiness to find new things to appreciate about New York.