As I retrace my steps from 2009, I feel like the city also shifted into reverse, revealing intriguing glances of forgotten places under the layer of our estranged modern landscape. Where is that lost subway station? What grows under those tracks? Who grows these apples? Over the last year, the proliferation of artisanal DIY goods sold in medieval-like outdoor markets or peddled on trucks by young urban craftspeople conspired with recession economics to force us to at least think about the means of production. In addition, the reconfiguration of Times Square into a pedestrian center, the paving of 200 miles of bike lanes, the expansion of the waterfront, the opening of Governor's Island and the High Line literally and figuratively opened up new and greener points of view. The arrival of 2009 and the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's encounter with the New World encouraged such geographical retrospection, allowing us to imagine the island of Mannahatta in
A strolling guide to New York City by Teri Tynes