OnBoard New York Tours takes you on a walking tour of Rockefeller Center. It is a stretch that goes from West 48th to West 51st between 5th and 6th Avenues. Here are the sites and a bit of a history on them:

Rockefeller Center was originally built to shelter a new Metropolitan Opera House. That project fell through. This was at a time when the economy was in its low and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the wealthiest man in America, needed to boost the economy.

Theatre-goers were accommodated by an art deco style, 5,874-seat theatre called Radio City Music Hall which opened on December 27, 1932. It was an entertainment center that was affordable to the general public. The luxurious building stunned theatre-goers during the depression. It has great interior decorating with a ceiling 60-feet high and drapes extending from the ceiling to the floor, ornate mirrors and breath-taking chandeliers.

In the 1940s, 14 magnificent buildings were built surrounding Rockefeller Center, as well as public areas that hold a skating rink in the winter and an outdoor café in the summer. By 1973, the number of buildings rose to 21.