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By: Ellen Cans
For the past two years, Brooklyn resident, Josh Richards, has been on a quest to walk through and experience every inch of New York City. As reported by the NY Post, 46-year-old Richards has already succeeded in walking or running across close to 2,000 miles of Big Apple streets. “Every neighborhood has its own distinct charm,” Richards said. “For most people, they’re getting little snapshots of different places. I’m very fortunate to be getting this wide-ranging view of this place.”
A resident of Bushwick and a general manager at a Midtown vegan restaurant, Richards has already trodden across most of Brooklyn, the lower half of Manhattan and the trendy western side of Queens. As to his path or strategy for covering ground, he says he doesn’t really have a methodology. “When I leave the house, I usually have no idea where I’m going. I’ll just start walking or running and once I’m going in a certain direction and I know an area I haven’t covered yet I’ll make my way out there,” said Richards.
He told the Post that he usually sets out of his home and walks down a straightaway avenue for several miles before turning around and weaving through to side streets. “I’ve gotten to the point where if I leave the house it’s about 4 miles until I hit anything new.” To cover coastal areas, such as the College Point peninsula or Staten Island, he prefers to start on the outside perimeter and work his way in.
He is following in the ways of William Helmreich and Matt Green, who had both famously chronicled their walks across the roughly 6,000 miles of Big Apple streets in the last decade. He is even trying to beat them in one aspect—speed. Usually, he does more than walk through the concrete jungle— he runs, or speed jogs. Over a weekend he covers roughly 80 miles of territory. “I walk at a pace of about 4-miles per hour. I’m definitely in the 99th percentile of New Yorkers,” he told the Post.
Per the Post, the vegan runner plans to participate in next year’s marathon— because it’s the only time that the Verrazano Bridge is open to foot traffic. He shared that for him the main thrill is getting to know the neighborhoods, seeing the sights and the history, appreciating the architecture of the churches and religious buildings, and of course the people he meets. Exploring a new neighborhood for him has included being honked at once in a while for jaywalking, but also hugging strangers.
“I’ve been in love with New York since I arrived — since the first day I ever spent here. I was just bowled over: the energy of this place, the beauty of it,” Richards said. He is originally from Ohio, and only moved to Brooklyn in 2012. He has also lived in other cities including Florida, Arizona, Colorado and California — many of which were unwalkable. This is what was most alluring to him about NYC—the accessibility to tread through. In the last decade, Richards had previously explored hundreds of streets in the Big Apple by bike, before starting his mission on foot. “For me, it’s just fun,” said Richards
