CRUISING WITH TIMOTHY "SPEED" LEVITCH

Those who've seen Bennett Miller's 1998 award-winning documentary "The Cruise" instantly recognise Timothy "Speed" Levitch. Levitch, the subject of Miller's film, is a charismatic tour guide, actor, history buff and self described psychogeographer whose mind-expanding tours of New York City have earned him a cult following far beyond the boundaries of his hometown. Although he currently lives in Kansas City, Levitch returns east once per season to give the odd tour or lecture. When I found out about his most recent visit I couldn't resist signing up for a Greenwich Village walk-through. On a sunny Friday afternoon I found myself beneath the Washington Square Arch with the legend himself and nine other fans. "Real estate speculation," he began, "is the rudder of the boat of this story." And we were off.

Levitch is one of those specialists whose impressive intellect has met its perfect match—the match, in this case, being New York City. He outlined the history of the Washington Square Arch, referencing Roman Triumphal structures, Victorian architecture, female anatomy and the bohemian instincts of the arch's creator, Stanford White. He guided our attention to the arch's perfect view of the Empire State Building, noting that that building's central hole was dug seven days after the stock market crashed in 1929. From the arch we circumnavigated Washington Square Park, ending up beneath a tree formerly used for public executions. "Approximately 10,000 people are buried beneath this park," Levitch explained. "It was the original potter's field of Manhattan." He dropped aphorisms like "Civilization is nothing but enforced infantilism," and "New York is a dance between the useless and the useful." Walking west toward Sixth Avenue we were told that "Greenwich Village is the erogenous zone of the world." In context, all three maxims made perfect sense.

From Sixth we moved on past MacDougal Alley, the Jefferson Market Tower and a hidden wedge of cemetery on 11th Street with tombstones dating back to the late 18th century. Levitch talked quickly, drawing on a library of references that included Thomas Paine, Samuel Gompers, David Lee Roth's autobiography, American Transcendentalism, Emma Goldman, Henry James and the 1980s horror film Poltergeist. When the tour ended after 90 minutes, several members of the group asked Levitch for photographs (he happily complied) while others pressed for information about future appearances, to which he answered that he was planning a special Columbia University tour. When I asked Levitch if he ever missed New York in Kansas City, he smiled broadly and shook his head. "I always keep one foot here one way or another," he said.

~ MOLLY YOUNG

Picture Credit: Ed Yourdon (via Flickr)