Times Square for kids
The Secret Hum Under Times Square. A true story near New York City, NY, told for kids 6-8.
Read along
Mmmmmm. Can you hear it? Right here in Times Square, with all its giant glowing signs, a secret sound is hiding under the sidewalk! On a little island between 45th and 46th Streets, there is a metal grate in the ground, like a big cheese grater lying flat. If you stand on it, a deep hummmmm floats up from below. It sounds a bit like the buzzy ring a big bell makes after you bong it.
An artist named Max Neuhaus made it on purpose. It is art you listen to instead of look at! And there is no sign telling anyone it's there. So tons of people stomp right over a famous artwork every day and never even notice. Oops! Here's your job.
Everybody in the car, make your deepest, longest hum. Mmmmmmmm. Ta-da! Now you are making art too. Next time you walk here, find the grate, stand very still, and listen.
Quiz the back seat
How do you enjoy the Times Square art hiding under the grate?
Show the answer
You listen to it. You listen to it! It's a sound sculpture, and it was even taken away for ten years before coming back.
3 fun facts
- The Times Square hum is a permanent sound art installation by Max Neuhaus.
- It was first installed in 1977, removed in 1992, and reinstalled in 2002.
- It is cared for by the Dia Art Foundation.
Questions kids ask
- What is the Times Square hum?
- It is a sound art piece by Max Neuhaus that makes a deep hum rising from a grate in the sidewalk.
- Where can you hear the Times Square hum?
- You can hear it from a metal grate on the island between 45th and 46th Streets.
- Is there a sign for the Times Square hum?
- No, there is no sign, so most people walk right over it without noticing.
For grown-ups
Written with AI from public sources, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_(Neuhaus)
- mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/times-square-max-neuhaus
- max-neuhaus.estate/en/sound-works/vectors/place/-time-square-pedestrian-island-between-46th-and-45th-streets-new-york-city-r-ndimensions-triangle-6-x-12-meters-r-nproposed-1973-r-nextant-1977-1992-and-2002-present
- timessquarenyc.org/tsq-arts-projects/times-square
- hyperallergic.com/a-hidden-times-square-sound-installation-returns-to-full-hum
- soundoflife.com/blogs/places/sound-art-times-square-new-york
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Town and county names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).