Dazzling Times Square and Bawdy 42nd St: A Self-Guided Audio Tour

Times Square has been called the Crossroads of the World, and is one of the most visited places on earth. There’s so much going on it’s hard to know where to look.

On this walking tour, I’ll guide you from Father Duffy Square to the Empire Theater on 42nd Street, pointing out the details most visitors miss. I’ll show you hidden artwork and iconic filming locations. You’ll also see the exact spots where a famous kiss and a legendary murder occurred. I’ll share the fascinating backstories behind the buildings and theaters we pass, including the Knickerbocker and Casablanca Hotels, Paramount Building, New Victory Theater, New Amsterdam Theatre, Liberty Theater and Empire Theatre. Plus I’ll introduce you to the larger-than-life characters who left their mark here.

Along the way, you’ll:

• Be dazzled by the history of Time Square’s lights, from the search lights that signaled Teddy Roosevelt’s election and the “zipper” that announced war’s end, to the theater marquees that made this the “Great White Way” and the famous New Year’s Eve “Ball Drop”
• Find the often overlooked Liberty Theatre where Birth Of A Nation premiered, directly inspiring lynchings and the revival of Ku Klux Klan
• Spot the Naked Cowboy and get a brief history of the man behind the strategically placed guitar
• Experience the gangland murder of ”Beansie” Rosenthal which led to the Trial of the Century, and sent Charles Becker to the electric chair, becoming the only cop in history to be executed
• Meet Father Duffy, the heroic battlefield priest who braved machine gun fire to comfort the wounded, and became a hero in New York’s toughest neighborhood
• Stand at the start of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America
• Be thrilled by the tale of the hapless burglars who tried to shoot it out with NYC cops, using squirt guns filled with Tabasco Sauce
• Walk along 42nd Street, once the most dangerous and decadent block in New York City, now home to a Disney theater
• Learn how the New Victory Theater evolved from a stage for serious drama, to New York’s last burlesque house, then into its first porn theater, only to become an abandoned wreck for many years before being reborn into the now famous children’s theater
• See where thousands of teens swooned for Sinatra and screamed for the Beatles
• Discover how the Tony Awards got their name

Why wander aimlessly like other tourists, when you can discover all the tantalizing tidbits and fascinating details they miss, in just 75 minutes? With TellBetter’s Times Square tour, you’ll be enthralled by sound effects, music and actors’ performances that turn an ordinary walk down the street into a stroll through time.

CREDITS: Additional voices add actual quotes, performed by actors: Peter Collery, Tom Eich, Mattie Goldberg, Matt Jones, Clara Marshall, Hugh Osborn, Paul Safsel, Jeremy Saks, Terry Taylor, Bob Tracy, Lisa Wagner, Claudia Wallis, Josh Wallach, John Williams.