Walking New York: Manhattan History on Foot

In 2020, in the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, former Ralph Lauren executive Keith Taillon was furloughed, and decided to walk every block of Manhattan (977 miles in all) to keep himself busy. He shared the walks with his Instagram followers, and with his BA in History and MA in Urban Planning, offered everyone stuck at home a fascinating insight into the history of New York. Once restrictions lifted in 2021, his Instagram was flooded with requests from people keen to join a tour with him, so he obtained his New York City Tour Guide license and began giving group tours to the public.

In his new book, Keith invites you to join him on 15 of his most popular walking tour routes, examining in depth the various neighbourhoods of Manhattan, their history, and the intricacies of their formation. He will trace the evolution of the Big Apple back to some of its early seeds, focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries -- a window in which New York City transformed from a small provincial port town into a global metropolis. He covers everything from the completion of the Erie Canal and Croton Aqueduct to some of the notorious characters behind the city’s Gilded Age. Each walk starts with the nearest subway station, the length of the walk and a detailed map to follow, and throughout the walk, you will be encouraged to pause, look up, and take in the landmarks.

Filled with interesting facts and timelines, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of why the city looks and feels the way it does. Perfect for tourists, New Yorkers and armchair travelers alike, you will see New York in a new way, learning to look up, look around, and appreciate this truly special place anew.

Keith Taillon is a New York City historian focused primarily on the city’s growth and development in the 19th century. His Instagram account, @KeithYorkCity, boasts more than 55k followers who tune in daily for his deep-cut posts about topics as varied as the Vanderbilt family mansions, the city’s water supply system, and Central Park’s stone walls (the reason for those walls: when the park began construction in the 1850s, goats and other free-roaming farm animals would wander into the park and nibble its plantings). He and his work have been featured in The Times of London, The New Yorker, The Australian, Conde Nast Traveller, Elle Decor, and Surface Magazine. Born in upstate New York, he has lived in Manhattan since 2010, currently residing in Harlem with his partner.