Town Hall Club on the building's upper stories stopped hosting weekly roundtable luncheons when Town Meeting aired. When Town Meeting was not being broadcast, Town Hall continued to be used as a venue for speeches, musical recitals, and other events and performances. Town Hall was frequently called the "busiest theater on Broadway", though it was neither a Broadway theater nor physically on Broadway. Despite Town Hall's success, the League for Political Education still did not own Town Hall outright by 1936, as it still rented the auditorium and offices. Town Hall's leadership planned another expansion of the building in 1937, but this was not carried out. The same year, Denny succeeded Ely as the League's director. The League formally reorganized as Town Hall Inc. in January 1938, with Denny as the new organization's president. The move reflected the fact that political education was no longer the League's priority, especially with Town Hall hosting Town Meeting over the last several years. Town Meeting was being broadcast on 78 stations by 1939; the show's own popularity was largely fueled by its setting within the Town Hall building. The Town Hall 50th Anniversary Committee, under Denny's leadership, started raising funds for a five-story expansion to Town Hall in 1940, though this was also not built. Town Hall also started a fundraiser in 1946 to pay off the $200,000 mortgage on the building. The venue was musically successful between 1946 and 1948, immediately after World War II. During October 1947 alone, the hall hosted 52 concerts. Town Hall was still used for many solo musical performances during the 1950s. Decline The mid-1950s coincided with a general decrease in the number of performance events. While similar venues like Carnegie Hall saw similar decreases in recitals, Town Hall was particularly affected because it was smaller than other venues such as Carnegie Hall. Furthermore, Times Square was falling into decline at the time, and Town Hall was being used more often for the premieres of fledgling artists before they appeared at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center. Town Hall Inc. evicted the Town Hall Club from the building in April 1955 after falling into debt and failing to pay $9,500 of rent. The Town Hall Club filed for bankruptcy on April 6, 1955. It had only 650 members at the time, far below its peak of 1,900. Town Meeting ultimately ended in 1956. New York University operation In