FYI: Is It Safe to Walk Barefoot in New York City?

This was an interesting read. I might go shoeless a little more. But did you *have* to post it right before lunch??? ;-)

yeah, it's all good until you step on some junkie's discarded syringe and contract hep C...

no kidding... I might go shoeless a little more, but never in NY.

This has to be one of the worst personal hygiene ideas I've ever read. Barefoot in a major US city like NY? Are you kidding? As someone already mentioned, the risk of contracting Hepatitis C from any form of dirty object is greatly increased walking around shoeless. Direct blood to blood transmission is around 2-4%, a seemingly low number, but considered highly contagious (for example, the chance of transmission from HIV in direct blood to blood contact is around .1-.3%). Walking around shoeless is taking a radically unnecessary risk in a city where trash and bodily waste on the street is plentiful. Howell states that a wound is more likely to become infected through a "wet" opening. What then should you step in a (dirty) puddle? Or if it's raining?

Also, what about during the winter? During any cold weather or snow? Shoes and socks very obviously protect us from frostbite & exposure.

Let's look at history here, too. Shoes have been around for 6,000+ years. Any notion that shoes are somehow unneeded goes in direct opposition to the early human-made survival tools. We've recognized that we needed something to protect our feet before we even started to domesticate horses. Add in that the pathogens and bacterial strains of today are far more resistant than ever before (MRSA, C-diff, et al) and tend to be opportunistic... waiting on skin or membranes for a chance to get in, and I think you've got a recipe for very serious complications, infections and even loss of limb.

I agree with "lastpalelight" walking around barefoot is unnecessary and dangerous. Our technology has evolved us and shoes are a product of this. Of course if we were to walk barefoot our feet would become stronger and more resistant to certain objects in the environment but to look at the big picture and say that were better off is truly niave.

If we didn't need shoes then why were they made? Going barefoot is a choice and a preference but it isn't heathly and really shouldn't be practiced in the city and even in the forest for that matter. With today's society no one knows what humans have dumped there not to mention the wild life.

Bottom line is barefoot in NY or anywhere is not a good idea and this article doesn't help its own cause.

I don't agree. Footware was developed to keep peoples feet warm in colder enviroments. It was later used as a everyday tool in all envirments. This has be true for 1000's of years and people have become careless with the way they take care of their waste.

If no one wore shoes, everyone would be cleaner.

Going barefoot a more often is not a good idea unless you continue to do it. Your feet will not develop the leather skin that is need to protect you.

Going barefoot daily is more likely to save your life then to make you loose it.

I do not agree. Even though you would know if you were to drive a spike through your feet earlier than if you had boots on isn't the point. Shoes are here for the protection of our feet. If we walked barefoot all through the summer of course that would be all right climate wise but all the dangers that occur throughout the city, while a person walks down the sidewalk he/she cuts their foot without knowing and again with no knowledge contracts a virus or something even worse.

If no one wore shoes I think we would be much sicker and much dirtier. We would have to wash ourselves more often because of all the soot we bring into our homes and the virus' that might linger because of this fact.

Going barefoot daily is not more likely to save your life, it is more likely to contract and spread diseases.

Diseases show if a prerson lacks vitamins and minerals.

Wow !!! A few people have aversions to going barefoot. I have been a full time barefooter for almost 5 years now and in that time I have found none of these concerns to be a real valid risk. The fact is that the lower back problems and knee pain and swelling have gone away. I am also still waiting to see all the HIV infected needles laying around - I must be spending my time in the wrong neighborhoods for that.

What the article didn't mention was that the Virginia Professor Daniel Howell is a PhD in a relevant study and recently authored a book called "The Barefoot Book - 50 reasons to take off your shoes". Its an easy read written in laymans terms covering all aspects of barefooting and its impact on our bodies.

I have also found many medical studies which concur with Dr. Howells findings as well as parallel my own experiences as a barefooter.

Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes.
Or more accurately 100 miles since that is closer to what it takes to re-condition your feet after a lifetime of overdependency on shoes.

The anti-foot comments on articles such as this always amuse me. People seem proud to flaunt their ignorance. The earliest archaeological evidence for shoes dates back about 10,000 years. Homosapiens have been around for more than a million years. That means we got along just fine without shoes for more than 990,000 years. Yet people insist shoes are now essential for human survival.

And where are all these dirty needles? I have been to most major US cities over the past thirteen years. I have never seen a needle lying about. I say with absolute certainty that the doomsayers have never once removed a needle from the sole of their shoe. Yet they insist we barefooters are destined to get one stuck in our foot.

If you want to walk around all day with your feet entombed in canvas and leather that's your business. But shut up about the dangers of going barefoot. You haven't a clue what you are talking about. The anti-foot comments are always the same. And they are always based on pure ignorance and lack of information. Those of us who live the lifestyle just laugh when we read these mindless rantings. We know better. Because we have science and experience to support our views.

a great book. i give it out to people who have been told it would be better to be born with shoes, not feet.
I'm hoping to do my first half marathon, perhapz marathon, barefoot this year. I've had no negative experiences from going barefoot. No more shinsplintz and my knee (3 scopes and 1 operation) is much more stable without pain. i don't want people to be barefoot all the time (shoes are tools), but we must work our feet through their full range of motion, including using/loading our arches on a regular basis.

I recently started going barefoot, but a cut on a rock when I was in the woods put me back. I now wear a shoe called the "vibram five finger." Its as close to a compromise as i can find until the wound heals up. Also, it's extremely comfortable, more so than any athletic shoe I've worn.

This was not a problem 50 years ago. But since we(the human race)started having a phobia about germ all this germ phobia has created super germs and virus that are getting more resistance to our med's.

yes, shoes are indeed a recent invention in human history. and so is living past 30. i'll stick with "no shirt, no shoes, no service"... and so will most prospective mates.

If you are going to give a precise date of how long we as a human race have gone without footwear then I suggest you name the correct date. It is more like 3.5 million years. Minus that 10 000 when we invented footwear.

Also I never said that there were needles infected with HIV laying all around various cities, I just indicated that it is quite a hazard. And we didn't need footwear back thousands of years ago because there weren't new viruses and disease that we have today because there were not huge cities over 10 000 years ago.

So let me ask you, do you go barefoot in the winter as well? Or do you live in a perfect environment for this activity where it never snows? We invented shoes for a reason, I'm not saying to avoid disease off the street or "HIV needles" But it improves our daily lives in numerous activities through our life.

You can't walk into half of the stores, offices, or other work environments without shoes these days. So how does going barefoot help that situation?

Honestly I agree barefoot in the summer time would be cool but any other time of the year is redudent and useless.

Wombat,

I go barefoot in the winter. Not in NYC but in a nearby city called Providence. Its snowing here now and it has been since early January. I stopped wearing shoes because I have always found them uncomfortable. I discovered this year that they were the cause of my lifelong chronic back and joint pain. I now live happily barefoot and pain free.

Do your research. Science proves that shoes alter the stride of people that wear them. These alterations cause great damage to the body over time.

On your stores and offices comment, you might be surprised to know that there are no laws put forth by the US government or the department of health stating being barefoot is illegal anywhere. That includes restaurants. Stores that have policies against barefooters (which are very rare) are discriminating against them which is debatably illegal since it could be viewed as a health requirement.

Health, our health is negatively impacted by shoes. Human feet from even 2000 years ago were stronger than feet today. The reason is shoes are hurting us with every step. As many people have stated, shoes are tools, they have a purpose but they should not be used habitually.

Do yourself a favor and do some research into barefooting.
Try www.barefooters.org

Hopefully you'll develop some sense and stop hurting yourself needlessly.

Best wishes,
ProvidenceBarefooter

Well in my personal opinion, you are probably better off with shoes. Sure some can be expensive, and not the greatest pieces of work in the world but they can help a lot. I'm not saying walking barefoot is a bad thing or an unhealthy thing but it may not be a good thing for people. Imagine yourself in the winter and it's freezing cold. People going barefoot can't feel their feet while people wearing shoes can. Now imagine theres a sharp object in the snow and you happen to walk right on top of it. I'm sure the people with the shoes on are more likely to feel it and remove it properly. And to those people that say there aren't many needles on the ground. How would you know? NYC is huge same with Chicago. Do you walk around every square inch....no square centimeter of NYC in hunt of druggy needles? I wouldn't think so, so who are you to say there isn't a chance you aren't going to step on one?

I honestly don't see your point, I live in Canada and I've been taught by numerious people that you aren't aloud to go into stores and such without proper footwear or you will not be aloud inside. Also the same with driving, its illegal. So I respect what your saying but its the law here and I wasn't aware of the states laws.

If you are walking barefoot in the winter time then I'm surprised you haven't gotten frostbite honestly I don't believe you. I walked outside for 40 mins WITH shoes on and my feet were going numb.

I do understand that shoes aren't ideal for our backs but they protect our feet from the environment in certain weather. You have to admit that. Again I'm coming back to your statement of walking barefoot in the winter time, its ridiculous.

But again I respect where you are coming from and accept that it may be true that your back pain stemmed from shoes but I have heard about footwear that conforms to your feet so its like you are not even wearing anything, while still offering protection it doesn't harm your back.

Lastly I see you changed the spelling of my name to the correct dictionary spelling. I hope you realize I spelt it like that for a reason. So next time you should quote my name correctly. You wouldn't say "Nik" when the person may spell it "Nick" that's just rude.

Though footwear could have been invented over 10,000 years ago, it was clearly to protect the feet in extreme cases such as jagged rocks and thorny shrubbery. Other than that man walked, ran and spent most of his living time barefoot. As far as frostbite goes, yes, there is a possibility but mainly in Arctic type temperatures or regions where it drops to below 20 Fahrenheit. In New York, the coldest it usually gets is in the single positive digits and that is generally not more than 3 days out of the year.
I've been going barefoot in New York year round for over 10 years and have been fine in the single digits. In fact going barefoot in the snow is actually a lot of fun.
The sidewalks are usually clean - rarely is there a lot of broken glass and I have yet to see used needles. Even so, if you are used to living a barefoot lifestyle, your eye becomes trained to see what is on the ground before you step on it.
As far as legal issues are concerned, the idea of saying it is illegal is absurd. There are actually no health code regulations for customers in an establishment though an establishment can exercise its right to post signs where customers can see them - similar to upscale restaurants requiring a jacket and tie to dine.
Driving barefoot is legal in all 50 states and in fact safer than a pair of clunky boots or high heels.