We recently caught up with one of our long-time clients, the founder of Big Apple Fanatics Tours, to learn more about how their passion for history and storytelling fuels their unique NYC walking tours. From blending sports with local heritage to keeping lesser-known narratives alive, this interview is packed with insights that tour operators might find inspiring, especially those thinking about how to stand out and keep guests engaged.
TourismTiger (TT): What inspired you to start Big Apple Fanatics Tours, and how did your background as an author and historian shape the way you designed the experiences?
Kevin C. Fitzpatrick (KF): I started leading walking tours after I began gathering research and information for my first book and website. If I could design a route for a tour that drew on this history, it could become a walking tour. I was inspired by history tours I took in Paris and London: that if there is a route from place to place, it could be an engaging tour. Once I gather the research, I design the experiences. I’m only going to begin a tour if I know I can talk for two hours about the subject.
TT: What makes a great walking tour in your opinion – especially when blending sports, history, and storytelling?
KF: First, what makes a bad tour? That’s a guide reading from a script who only memorized a set of knowledge, and won’t know much that isn’t in a script. The best tours are by topic experts who can give a wide range of knowledge. Blending this research is key, such as being in a neighborhood that has had drastic change in 150 years. Knowing about each era is vitally important. If a guide is showing off a street, the guide has to know what was it was like in 1925 and 2025. The best guides are storytellers at heart and not reading notes from an iPad. Storytelling is weaving in facts with knowledge about the past and present.
TT: You’ve written extensively about New York’s past. How do you choose which stories to tell on your tours?
KF: I want to lead tours that other guides are not. I think my favorite stories are the ones that will stick with a guest, and they would remember it. Also, a guide has to help a guest visualize what might not be in front of them, such as the Colonial or Civil War past. The stories can bring them to life, and maybe use a photo album of images for visuals.
TT: What advice would you give to aspiring tour guides or authors who want to share historical narratives in a compelling and accessible way?
KF: Anyone getting into this line of work has to know that nothing can happen until you do the work. And that’s the reading and the research. If you’re going to talk about a house of a famous person, you need to have read enough to be able to carry on in a conversational tone a discussion of why this person matters. Why are you taking someone to visit this house? It won’t matter if it’s an actress or a mayor, being able to speak authoritatively about the subject is so important. If you are building a tour, or planning a book, know the path you are taking.
TT: Have you noticed any shifts in the kind of travelers taking interest in NYC history or baseball heritage over the years?
KF: Yes. Interest in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 has dropped off precipitously. It was once possible to give daily tours about 9/11, but the audience is just not there any longer. Group tours have diminished and it is rare to see younger people engaged. In addition, there are less and less international tourists in New York City overall. Since the change in the White House, we are seeing a steep drop in foreign tourists. There has been an increase in interest in history tours tied to the Gilded Age (1880s-1910s) because of the HBO series.
TT: Your work with the Dorothy Parker Society has helped preserve and celebrate her legacy for decades. How has that experience influenced your approach to guiding and public history? What’s one surprising fact or location in New York City that never fails to impress your tour guests?
KF: By being so invested in Dorothy Parker and the Jazz Age, it has led me to become more interested and more engaged in pre-WW2 history. I offer a lot of tours tied to speakeasy culture, cocktail history, Prohibition, World War I, and life before 1940. The way that influenced me as a guide, I almost have to build up to explain this era to guests on tours. They may know a name, but not why we remember that time. I was able to take over the Great Gatsby Boat Tour from my friend who launched the tour, primarily because I already was an expert on the Jazz Age and New York in the early 1920s. I want guests to come away with two things: that they had fun and liked our time together, and second, they might have learned something that pushes them to read or watch a film about that topic. I like hearing, “I didn’t know that.”
The New York location that never fails is Governors Island. It takes dedication for a guest: they must take a subway and ferry just to get there. But I started leading tours there in 2003—I am the longest-serving tour guide of Governors Island—and I wrote the first and only guidebook for the island. Guests always marvel at the beauty and quiet, and so close to Manhattan. Guests are always surprised when I take them around and detail the names and dates of each spot, with the storytelling that comes from leading this tour for twenty years.
For tour operators looking to craft experiences that really stick with people, remember: be original, do your homework, and always aim to tell stories that spark curiosity. Whether it’s using old photos, bringing a forgotten neighborhood to life, or simply speaking with authority and heart, there’s power in combining deep knowledge with a personal touch. If you’re building or refining your own tours, there’s a lot to learn here, especially from someone who’s managed to turn their love for history into a lasting and memorable brand.
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