Results tagged “philippepetit”

Philippe Petit, friend of Gothamist and entertainer of the world, will perform another high wire walk in New York. His most famous one, of course, was in 1974 when he walked back and forth between the Twin Towers (documented in the Oscar-winning and vertigo-inducing documentary Man on Wire). CityRoom reports that "Petit says he will perform a high-wire walk this fall in Midtown Manhattan. It will be high, it will be long, and it will be outdoors in a very recognizable location that he does not want revealed quite yet—discussions are not final." The walk will be to raise awareness for literacy, and is part of a series of walks he'll be performing across the country.

In August 1974, Philippe Petit, a Frenchman with a passion for walking on wires, captivated New York City as he stealthy made his way to the top of the World Trade Center. Once there, he walked across a cable strung between the Twin Towers, a historic feat that's vividly depicted in a new documentary, Man On Wire (which will be screening tonight). The famous walk turned a void 1/4 mile above the streets into a stage, and made Petit into an instant "folk hero." He now lives upstate in Woodstock, and yesterday we talked with him about those 45 minutes between the towers, that first daring step onto the wire, and the ones that followed.

   

In August of 1974, a 24-year-old Frenchman named Philippe Petit snuck into the World Trade Center, reached the top, and walked across a wire cable that was strung between the Twin Towers. New York watched captivated below. Some fun facts: it took 6 years to plan the stunt, the gap between the towers was 140 feet, and even though it was illegal, charges were dropped and Petit was merely sentenced to entertaining kids in Central Park (where he walked over Belvedere Lake).