Walking the Edge

Works on Water and friends walked the 520 miles of coastline (or as close as possible) of all the boroughs of New York City, from May through October, 2025. As a collaborator I made two walks, solo, and then joined a few folks for the final walk, along the Queens shoreline, ending in Little Neck. Walking The Edge was part of the Works on Water 2025 Triennial.

My first one was probably one of the easier walks — straight up the West Side of Manhattan, from about Lincoln Center to the Little Red Light House at the George Washington Bridge. It was a beautiful — though hot! — sunny day and people were enjoying themselves all along the way, from biking to fishing to picnicking. One woman was running the perimeter of Manhattan as her birthday celebration and a various friends were joining her at points along the way. The trickiest part was navigating the pathways crossing the freeway system on the way to the subway home.

The second walk, along the eastern shores of the Bronx, through the Throggsneck, Locust Point and Edgewater neighborhoods, was longer, more varied and totally fascinating. It was mostly residential, with a jaunt around the CUNY Maritime College (past a football game playing Frank Sinatra music at half time), and through two gated communities that I managed to talk myself into. One, on a hill facing south, had a narrow path connecting all the backyards, with spectacular views of both the Whitestone and Throgsneck bridges. I almost didn’t get out of this one, until a car came along and opened the gate. The other was right on the Long Island Sound, with walkways that reminded me of Sausalito, CA and seagrass waving in the water. As I walked further, past suburban mansions, and the afternoon turned into golden hour, the neighborhood became more obviously Catholic.

So grateful for the opportunity to explore these interstitial spaces where the water meets the land and people live, work and play at or avoid the water.

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