With 30,000 red yardsticks on hand, New York artist Gene Schmidt is measuring the width and length of Manhattan. Each yardstick is numbered, used once, and later taken to Schmidt's studio and added to a sculpture. The pilgrimage/performance/art project, titled Manhattan Measure, was inspired by an ancient Hebrew text, but also parallels city walking "pioneers" like Mike Epstein.
Begun in in October of last year, Manhattan Measure is about two thirds completed. Starting August 24th Schmidt will measure Sheep Meadow in Central Park down 7th Avenue to Times Square. He hopes to reach Battery Park by the end of September. Spoiler alert! Manhattan is 13.4 miles long, 2.3 miles wide.
In other walking news (remember, the walking makes us healthy!), McBrooklyn discovered a site which calculates your Walk Score. This would probably be more helpful if one could deduct "walk score" points for things like ordering delivery and Fresh Direct. Also missing: Locations of subway stations!
