We Walked The Length of Broadway
Apparently, this is a thing. A quick Google search will show blog posts, a New York Times slideshow and details about people making the journey. Whether the length is walked from top to bottom in Manhattan or driven in it’s entirety from Albany to Battery Park, it’s something people do.
On Saturday, April 23, 2016 it was our turn! 13.1 miles. 9.5 hours, 14 total people throughout the day, 3 big breaks, 2 margaritas, 1 shot and a cocktail finish.
Marble Hill is the northernmost neighborhood of Manhattan. I always thought everything above the Harlem River was considered the Bronx, but in the late 1800s the Harlem River Ship Canal was constructed and ended up running right through it, leaving a little isolated piece of Marble Hill separated from the island of Manhattan.
When deciding to walk the length of Manhattan’s Broadway, we started the journey there at 225th Street at 9 a.m., just off the 1 train where we walked across the Broadway Bridge.
Notable things at the beginning:
- It was raining, so that wasn’t great
- We started as a group of 5, but planned to pick up 4 more people at 207th Street.
- I noticed that the NYC skyline was not visible from there and I thought that was weird.
- We made a rule that throughout the day we wouldn’t leave Broadway. Every stop had to be physically on that street.
Very soon after, we passed Fort Tryon Park — a giant city park in Washington Heights and Inwood that extends east-west from Broadway to the Hudson River Parkway, spanning 67 acres. It’s land that the Rockefeller family acquired over time and gifted to the city in the 193os. Apparently it has amazing views of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, and houses the Cloisters Met museum of medieval goodness, but we didn’t see any of that because we had to stay on Broadway.
We walked on, through parts of the city I had never seen. Up hills I didn’t know existed. Through new neighborhoods, crossing streets with very high numbers that I’ve never crossed before:
We stopped in Morningside Heights for brunch and a celebratory drink at Toast on Broadway and 125th Street. Up to this point, the group had walked at a quick pace and we were anxious for a break. This stop marked 100 blocks walked!
Then back at it. Pacing was key here because we hoped to reach Battery Park by sunset. We left the restaurant at the cusp of the Upper West side and walked toward Columbia University and Barnard College.
At this point, it felt natural to strap an iPhone to a selfie stick. We passed Tom’s Restaurant of Seinfeld exterior fame and Straus Park, home to a nymph statue staring blankly into a fountain memorializing Ida and Isidor Straus, who both died on the Titanic in 1912. (Turns out that using a selfie stick makes one feel like kind of an asshole, but the photos are super fun.)
This was also around the time when everyone needed a bathroom break at various intervals and, of course, never conveniently at the same time. When the occasion presented itself, there was always a Starbucks that offered a nice service for that.
The sun was starting to shine and the temperature was rising. We were feeling good!
We posted photos on Facebook along the way and got some messages from friends who wanted to join up — yeah! We had a plan to meet a few new walkers near Columbus Square and ended up having a drink in the 35th floor lobby bar at the Mandarin Oriental at 59th Street at Columbus Circle.
During the break, we made our Times Square strategy. We planned another group selfie to include all our new walkers near the TKTS steps, then we would scatter, maneuver, and run through that area as fast as possible to meet back up at Greeley Square at Broadway and 32nd Street. Here we go:
We made it through the madness to our meeting point! Our next stop was a late lunch near Union Square. We passed the Ace Hotel, Madison Square Park, the Flatiron Building and many more Starbucks locations.
We broke our Broadway rule when we ended up at Rosa Mexicano on 18th Street, right off of Broadway near Union Square. It wasn’t because we didn’t try, but with our group now 14 strong, we needed a place that would accommodate a big group. Chips and Guacamole, margaritas and tacos gave us back our energy and we were excited for the remainder of our walk, about 2.8 miles, to Battery Park.
The light was getting better as golden hour approached. We made our way through Union Square, past the Strand Book store, the fringe of NYU’s campus to Houston Street. We had 1.8 miles remaining at that point and the numbered streets stopped.
From Houston Street, we cut through Soho and all it’s retail glory. Past Bloomingdale’s, Halal carts and street merchants selling hand drawn pictures of Prince and fake movie scripts, past yet another American Apparel to finally arrive at Canal Street. Just below there, we walked our last mile.
We Made it!
