Pedestrian Sidewalk-Ragers

What is it like to walk the streets of Manhattan where foot traffic is constant?

Photo by Yoav Aziz on Unsplash

Seething over annoying sidewalk behavior can trigger something akin to road rage. In Manhattan, you have jaywalkers, baby walkers, dog walkers, cellphone talker-walkers, slow walkers, fast walkers, group walkers, drunken walkers, walkers with walkers and, of course, tourist walkers. Unfortunately, all these walkers are walking into one another.

A Manhattan street is not like a street anywhere else in America. Moving around the city is an obstacle course as more people than ever live and work in the city and tourism surges. It is more frenetic, more commercial. Every square foot of the public way is burdened to full capacity, making it a breeding ground for lawlessness. Pedestrians slink over the curb into the roadway. Trucks of any shape and size honk at cabs, dislodging passenger’s mid-intersection, and aggressive men and women try to press into your hand fliers for discounted services of every imaginable service.

Photo by Ged Lawson on Unsplash