We don’t have streetcorner conversations like this in modern New York. Every now and then someone holds court on the street, but it’s usually to talk about Jesus. Blogs and Twitter seem to fill that niche today. But I like the notion that you could discuss different topics in different parts of town with whomever the local streetcorner philosopher was.

Oh, and to save you the trouble in case you didn’t know either:

per•i•pa•tet•ic |ˌperipəˈtetik| adjective.
1 traveling from place to place, esp. working or based in various places for relatively short periods : the peripatetic nature of military life.
2 ( Peripatetic) Aristotelian. [ORIGIN: with reference to Aristotle’s practice of walking to and fro while teaching.]

PERIPATETIC PHILOSOPHERS OF THIS MANY SIDED TOWN: Neighborhoods Where the Curbstone Lecturer Holds Sway and an Ancient Athenian Would Feel at Home in a Moment (PDF)

From May 29, 1910