Most of old Times Square has been steadily replaced by hotels, office buildings, and Walt Disney musicals, but there are still a few vestiges of its seedy past—if you know where to look. During the 1970s, Times Square was a dangerous, exciting, gritty, intense, racially and sexually diverse neighborhood frequented by locals and tourists. No matter your feelings regarding Times Square, you couldn’t ignore its gritty reality until it slipped away into the city center’s crevices with time.
Join Untapped New York for a tour of the remnants of gritty old Times Square. Let us take you back to the halcyon days when 42nd Street was the Deuce, Eighth Avenue was the Minnesota Strip, the Great White Way was a red-light district, and the Crossroads of the World was XXX-rated. During the tour, learn about the largest sex emporium in New York City, the freak show where Diane Arbus found her inspiration, as well as the last remaining hot sheet hotel and live peep show in Times Square.
One of the last standing adult shops in Times Square
As the tour visits sites for classic films including Midnight Cowboy and Taxi Driver, we will discover the personalities who made Times Square what it was: the King of the Peeps; the reclusive genius behind the McDonalds of Sex; the woman who built a gay and S&M porn empire; the slumlord with two suitcases filled with gold and five wives; and the Catholic priest who flew too close to the neon sun and crashed and burned.
This tour is led by Robert Brenner, a native New Yorker and licensed New York City tour guide. Brenner is a member of the Guides Association of New York City and has led walking tours of Times Square for the Times Square Alliance and the New York Public Library in addition to giving tours for Untapped New York.
This tour will show some graphic vintage photographs that may not be appropriate for all ages, while engaging with thought-provoking questions including “How do you balance the desire for safety with the need for freedom?” and “Does Times Square belong to tourists or locals or both?” As you leave the tour, reentering the reality of a Times Square filled with cartoon characters and large commercial outlets, you will find yourself asking a new question: What implications does the new Times Square have for the rest of the city?
