The founder of Salt Lake Sideways, Betsy Bober Polivy, has her roots in New York City where she created Manhattan Sideways (gosideways.nyc), a project focused on exploring and documenting the side streets of Manhattan, from 1st Street to 155th Street. What started as a whimsical idea soon became a comprehensive exploration of the city’s lesser-known areas. Over six years, Betsy revisited each street many times, noticing how much a block can change from hour to hour. Like the first scene of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the start of each day brings the opening of stores, the flow of people, and the mix of ethnic aromas from restaurant kitchens. As the day goes on, families fill playgrounds, bar and restaurant patrons spill onto the sidewalks, and the streets take on a new energy. Through her website, podcasts, and books, Betsy highlights the unique small businesses, arts venues, and hidden gems on these streets.

As a former children’s bookstore owner, Betsy has a strong passion for supporting small businesses. Her project involved physically walking every side street, documenting and photographing businesses, and sharing their stories on her website and in two books she self-published in 2020 and 2021. Both Walking Manhattan Sideways and The Art of Walking Manhattan Sideways feature beautiful photography and stories about the diverse businesses and cultural spots she discovered.