WALK RIGHT! Walks the Line (Again)

What do we need in our cities today? More militarization, more rules, less First Amendment protection–and definitely more fear on our sidewalks.

It’s time to bring back WALK RIGHT!

Back in 1984, when self-appointed vigilantes like the Guardian Angels were “reclaiming”  New York’s subways, Joey Skaggs launched WALK RIGHT!, an ad hoc squad of sidewalk etiquette enforcers determined to make New York a better place to live… and walk.

The group published 66 rules for proper pedestrian behavior, including:

• Pedestrians must choose one lane and stay in it.
• No changing directions except at designated areas.
• No stopping unless in the shopping lane.
• No eating, gesticulating, or umbrellas held lower than 5’10.”

CNN and local news covered the campaign as serious public policy. But it was satire then—-and it’s satire now.

Fast forward forty years: social media influencers have recently “invented” new ways to tame our unruly pedestrians. Matt Bass is calling out “Bad Walkers,” and Cameron Roh is rating New Yorkers one stride at a time.

They’re to be forgiven. They weren’t born when WALK RIGHT! ruled the city streets. And no one expects a TikTok influencer to do the kind of research that might deter them from promoting a “great idea” for sponsorship dollars or a few million eyeballs.

Excerpt from Joey Skaggs: WALK RIGHT! oral history film.