Walking on Air

By Linda Lee–

August 7, 1974, people on the street craned their necks and shielded their eyes, office workers gasped, construction workers stopped what they were doing, police were summoned, and newspaper reporters, tipped off  in advance, rushed to downtown Manhattan. A waiflike street performer was walking 130 feet on a thin cable stretched between the new twin towers, a quarter-of-a-mile above the ground. And then back again. And again. He even stopped to do tricks.

August 7, 1974 (Photo: Jean-Louis Blondeau/Polaris Images)

Without a net. Philippe Petit did it then, and you can watch him do it again. Sunday, Sept. 1 Starting at 4 pm.

You will be sitting on chairs, instead of standing in the street, thus paying $500 for the privilege. Petit will be crossing Peter’s Pond at the Longhouse Reserve rather than empty space a quarter of a mile in the sky. Still, he has said he is more afraid of falling into water than onto concrete. (What Butch Cassidy said on the edge of a cliff over a roaring stream to the Sundance Kid, who couldn’t swim, “Why the fall alone would probably kill ya,” probably pertains to concrete too.)

Tickets are limited to 250 and front row seats include an invitation to a festive reception with the artists after their performance.  (No idea how you book one of the 50 front row tickets; go here and try.

It was a media sensation when it happend; Petit was arrested, and then released. He would object to being called a “stuntman.”

Still, Justin Timberlake couldn’t walk heel to toe on the ground, according to Police Officer Michael Arkinson. Timberlake is 43. Philippe Petit is 75.

Philippe Petit, 2009 (Photo by Chrisa Hickey)

It’s 50 years after Petit did his walk in the air. This is a benefit for the Longhouse Reserve, and the walk across the pond is the same length as the walk between the two towers. This time, however, he will be only 20 to 25 feet above the ground, so audience member will be able to see his expressive face. He says he feels ten years younger when he is on the tightrope. He still practices three hours a day.

Petit considers himself an artist, not a clown, a circus performer. Thus he will walking as the Grammy-nominated clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen plays. The entire event includes an opening concert, and some kind of reception, with or without the artists. It ends at 5:30.