The Metropolitan Museum was preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary right about now. But with Covid-19, it has closed along with the Guggenheim, the Neue Galerie, the Cooper Hewitt and all the other museums along the tony stretch of the Upper East Side known as Museum Mile.

This is the second in a series of strolls exploring the city, a project that originated before New Yorkers went on pause and started sheltering at home, when taking a walk was still prescribed. Back then, I canvassed architects, historians and others for suggested routes, with the goal of distracting readers and reminding everyone that, though shuttered, the city remains glorious and isn’t going anywhere.

Andrew Dolkart is a professor of historic preservation at Columbia University and an architectural historian. He volunteered to talk about Museum Mile. With all that he had to say, we managed to cover about half a mile, keeping the recommended distance from each other and everyone else.

Like every installment in this series, what follows is edited, condensed and, for the time being, intended to be consumed at home, not on foot. Upcoming walks may be virtual. Mr. Dolkart and I met in mid-March at the corner of 78th and Fifth Avenue, outside the Institute of Fine Arts, one of the city’s most refined landmarks, a mansion modeled after an 18th-century chateau in Bordeaux, France.