The folks at Walking New York tweeted about cell phone tours in Central Park last week, and since they posted a handy photo, I decided to call the number give it a try.
The information at The Dairy covers the history of the building there, some info about poor public health in the early 1900s, and isn't afraid to talk about the corrupt Boss Tweed administration that turned the building into a popular watering hole.
The Central Park Conservancy created the tour and offers a good printable map of the tour stops.
These are really just actors reading scripts, but the scripts are pretty well written and the actors are top-notch. Some personalize their scripts (Mandy Patinkin spent a lot of time on the carousel as a kid. Who knew?) The information is mostly historical, but it also offers advice about how to enjoy the park and what to find inside the buildings you see. The scripts avoid hyperbole and tourist-propaganda. Other than an introductory music stinger, these stops don't use background music or sound effects and I don't miss either one.
The tour doesn't take advantage of location as well as it could. Even though the creators know right where you are, most stops don't direct your eyes to particular details of the landscape around you. But stop #9, for example, does point out some details (flowers nearby) that you might otherwise overlook.
The length of each stop seems just right and the cell phone interface is very easy to work with. This is a really nice addition to Central Park that both visitors and residents will find interesting.
The New York Times CityRoom Blog gives its take here.
(photo from brettsea on yfrog)
No comments:
Post a Comment