52 Comments
User's avatar
Stephanie Virchaux's avatar

Thank you for writing such beautiful, lovely, inspiring and funny stories about our incredible city! It was so delightful to read about this couple and their incredible story! Thank you Anne! You're a gifted journalist!

Therry Neilsen-Steinhardt's avatar

I came here from your wonderful post about chess hustlers shared on Work/Craft/Life, and what do I find? PICTURES OF BAGELS! You had me at Scallion cream cheese, and I will now follow you around like a besotted spaniel with cream cheese on its whiskers. Thank you so much!

Anne Kadet's avatar

Yay thank you Therry! And welcome!!!!!

Shane O'Mara's avatar

What a wonderful story; and wonderfully written. It's been too long since I was in NYC...

Anne Kadet's avatar

Awww thanks Shane! NYC misses you!

Shane O'Mara's avatar

all going to plan, back next year for a trip!

Cori Carl's avatar

I walked to every WWTP in NYC and then walked through every neighborhood in the five boroughs. This makes me feel like I'm in good company.

There's also the guy who had a dollar slice at every dollar slice place and the guy who's walking every street (and pathway) in NYC.

Anne Kadet's avatar

Cori, I had to google "WWTP" and the result was "Waste Water Treatment Plant." Is that actually the case? If so, we have GOT to talk!

Cori Carl's avatar

Yup. Newtown Creek does tours. Their Valentines Day tour tickets are a hot commodity. I'd be happy to chat. http://coricarl.com/#contact

Frances Leader's avatar

Oh wow! I am a Londoner and have never had a bagel with cream cheese! That sounds amazing! I really enjoyed your report and the couple's lovely smiles! Such a brilliant idea, someone should do something like that in all our big cities, sharing impressions and photos of course! Who needs expensive flights to exotic locations when you can learn so much about your own neighbourhood and eat traditional food? In London it would have to be Pie, Mash & Liquor if you can still find it among the fast food outlets!

Anne Kadet's avatar

Thanks Frances! Now I am wondering what on earth is a Pie, Mash & Liquor...

Amy Z's avatar

This makes me want to move to NYC and start walking. Just fabulous.

Anne Kadet's avatar

Thank you Amy! I hope you can visit soon!

Amy Z's avatar

I'm a Western New York native and spent a lot of time in NYC during my time at Bard College. It's truly the greatest city on Earth and I miss it.

Debra Goldyn's avatar

That is SO much walking - what a commitment! I get winded going for the mail. Also, I love her pretending to be a crazy prospective roommate. "Tell me about your carpet's ply count." 🤣🤣

Anne Kadet's avatar

Arne't they fun? I love their playful approach to almost everything. And yet it's always backed up by a lot of discipline and rigor. Such a good combo!!!

Eliza's avatar

Amazing! But how does one run a textile studio, with employees, and walk 11 hours/day?? I'd really love to know!

Anne Kadet's avatar

Eliza, thanks for your question. It made me reflect and realize I should have been more straightforward in how I reported this. Jessi told me in our initial interview that while Mike walked the entire 26.2 miles five days a week, she typically accompanied him three days a week.

I just got some additional details from Jessi on this. She told me: "I joined Mike three days a week, leaving me four days a week to work at the studio. I also have a small team of people that work for me and I was able to call, text, face time, etc while I was walking--typically I'd check in with my team first thing in the morning, once midday, and once close to the end of the day to keep on track with production. And I asked them to send me pictures at those three times too so I could catch any mistakes and give any notes necessary...t was definitely a lot and meant that I was typically walking 27-36 hours a week, working 30-50 hours a week, recording a podcast on the weekends and then cooking, eating, and sleeping with whatever free time was available."

I am going to update the story now to make sure all this is clear.

Thanks again for the prompt!

Eliza's avatar

Wow, thank you! Really helpful!

AB's avatar

Anne, I love this story! And I also need to know where the best bagel is. xoxo Anna

Anne Kadet's avatar

Thanks Anna! The top-scoring bagel was HOT BAGELS aka P&C Bagels in Middle Village Queens. "Extra large bagel. Hefty like a river stone, oven fresh and warm." https://everythingiseverything.nyc/reviews/hot-bagels-p-and-c-bagels.

AB's avatar

Now I feel like I should walk there to get one or I don't deserve it!

Phil Kadet's avatar

Did they wear their branded apparel while on the walks? If no, why not?

Anne Kadet's avatar

Yes, they specifically designed some clothes just for their walks. I'll see if I can provide some deets in the next issue.

Patrick Henry's avatar

love this story! I'm not a New York Citier but love bagels and crazy people... the fact they did something fun, healthy and made a few bucks was quite the bonus...

Anne Kadet's avatar

"Bagels and Crazy People": —band name! I'm with you. It'd be great to live a whole life based on projects like this. So inspiring.

Jess's avatar

Obsessed with this!

Anne Kadet's avatar

I think there will be a lot more coming out of their walking project so I'll keep you updated. :)

Meredith's avatar

I’m

So

Hungry! 🥯

Anne Kadet's avatar

HUNGRY FOR NFTS

Mark Dolan's avatar

This was wonderful. I would guess OMRON would want to use them in their branding. I doubt any pedometer has gotten this much work. I loved that they take the SAME route 5X to get a flavor of the neighborhood. This seems so utterly positive.

Anne Kadet's avatar

Thanks Mark! I had to look up OMRON, but yes. We talked about them putting ads on their pages or doing product endorsements. They're not really comfortable with that, but then they just got billed $1000 for their bagel site thanks to all the traffic it's getting. Which is making them rethink things a bit....

Mark Dolan's avatar

btw I only knew omron from the picture

Mark Dolan's avatar

I think in the early days I had one of those pedometers and it did not last long. It's such an unexpected story, a little bit bizarre, but ultimately heartwarming. When the story pivoted to NFTs I was dumbfounded. Great story!

Rowan Mangan's avatar

Wow! I love that they understand just how bizarre it is. And the NFT thing? So good.

Anne Kadet's avatar

Right? An appreciation of the absurd is like an extra sense power. Some people gots it and some people don't.