A view of the Manhattan skyline from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens. Jeffrey Bary (CC BY 2.0)
One of the greatest walkers of our time, William Helmreich — known for exploring every street in New York City — was an early casualty of COVID-19. He was 74.
"You walk it like you walk a mountain, one step at a time," Helmreich told NPR in an archive interview, speaking of how one goes about walking every block of a city. "You do 30 miles a week, 120 miles a month, 1,500 miles a year. Four times 15 is 6,000, and you're there."
Helmreich encouraged his fellow New Yorkers to think of the city as "the greatest living museum."
Before Helmreich's death, composer David Rothenberg got to walk with him one last time, around wetlands in Queens.