Image via Beat Generation in NYC
Seated at the near-origin of American counter culture, the Beats have accomplished an impressive amount of traveling given their meager funds. The “Beat Generation in NYC” map, created by quirky map-maker and real estate developer Constatine Valhouli, has plotted every hangout, point of inspiration, hometown, and really anything else you could think of for the prolific and irresistible Beat Generation.While the map plots Beat joints from California to France, the most detailed accounts of Beat shenanigans are focused near Columbia University and Greenwich Village, unsurprisingly so. For those of you who haven’t yet jumped on the Beat bandwagon,
Image via Beat Generation in NYC
This map has the classic Beat hangouts like the “West End Bar” near Columbia, and the infamous location in Riverside Park where David Kammerer was murdered. At HQ, though, we were most enthused to find the exact subway stop on Rockaway Boulevard where Jack Kerouac commenced his epic journey across the country.
Image via Beat Generation in NYC
For a lesser known fact, Valhoulli even found the fraternity which Kerouac pledged for a hot second, Phi Gamma Delta, otherwise known as “FIJI.”If the image of Kerouac rushing a fraternity still doesn’t hold enough shock value, did you know the beats had ties with the Sicilian mafia? While beat poet Gregory Corso was imprisoned in Clinton Prison in upstate New York, his cellmate was none other than mafia extraordinaire Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Here, Corso was protected by the mafia, and they procured a job for Corso upon his release.
Also, according to Valhouli, several of the Beat bars and cafés were inspirations or settings on the Godfather.
While we at Untapped are thrilled about this map, we have a critique. One of the most well known parts of On the Road is when Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady travel by themselves to Mexico — a feat hardly any Americans accomplished back in the 50s and 60s. Their adventures in Mexico are duly chronicled in On the Road, but there are no points of interest in Mexico on Valhouli’s map. You could read more here in this New York Times Travel piece, “Keroac’s Mexico,” and check out this map of Kerouac’s Mexico.
There are some other spots important to the beats in On the Road lacking on the map like New Orleans, where they visit “Old Bull Lee” (aka, William S. Burroughs), and Africa, where Ginsberg spends a significant amount of time.
For more from our Fun Maps series, check out these maps also created by Constantine Valhouli, which pinpoint every New York City reference in songs, and this map which identifies the original Dutch and Native names of New York City neighborhoods.Get in touch with the author @Arentyousokool
