Blockology

Robert Jay Kaufman, 53, the author of “Blockology: An Offbeat Walking Guide to Lower Manhattan,” would like to see more New Yorkers take the time to wander aimlessly. “I would recommend to everybody the experience of walking without a destination. It makes you so much more observant and really hones your powers of observation,” Kaufman said in a recent phone interview.

Kaufman speaks from experience. From May until October of 2003, he walked every block in Lower Manhattan below 14th St. Kaufman estimates he walked 1,544 blocks in total.

A guide to the ‘offbeat’ blocks of Lower Manhattan