September 27, 2005
Luckily for bus guides, a sucker's born every minute
Don't beleive everything your tour guide tells you, the Daily News warns, especially if you're sitting in a fire-engine red double-decker bus.
They dissed out inaccurate information on the origin of "Gotham City," the mayor's name, where Malcom X was shot, where to find Bloomingdale's and when Frank Sinatra played the Paramount in Times Square; (hint: It wasn't in the 1890s.)
The Daily News found plenty of urban legends on the tours with Gray Line as well as City Sights NY. The response from Gray Line: "People are not looking for a history lesson," said David Chien, Gray Line's director of marketing. "They're looking to be entertained and to have a grand experience traveling 13 feet in the air through the City of New York." To become a New York tour guide, one needs only take a multiple-choice test about the city's history, culture and landmarks; 64.6 percent is considered passing.
Maybe the best tour guide line of the Daily News story is this gem: "You don't hear too many people honking their horns in New York City. ..."
More discussion of this topics at Gothamist.com.
September 27, 2005 05:16 PM in Tours
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