Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and
neighborhood in
Midtown Manhattan,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is formed by the junction of
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
,
Seventh Avenue, and
42nd Street. Together with adjacent
Duffy Square, Times Square is a
bowtie
The bow tie is a type of necktie. A modern bow tie is tied using a common shoelace knot, which is also called the bow knot for that reason. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar of a shirt in a symmetrical manner so that t ...
-shaped space five blocks long between 42nd and
47th Streets.
Brightly lit at all hours by numerous
digital billboard
A digital billboard is a billboard that displays digital images that are changed by a computer every few seconds. Digital billboards are primarily used for advertising, but they can also serve public service purposes. These are positioned on highl ...
s and advertisements as well as businesses offering
24/7 service, Times Square is sometimes referred to as "the Crossroads of the World",
"the Center of the Universe", "the heart of
the Great White Way
Broadway () is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from State Street at Bowling Green for through the borough of Manhattan and through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional through the Westcheste ...
", “the Center of the
Entertainment Universe”, and "the heart of the world".
One of the world's busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres.
Places
*Theater District, Manhattan, New York City
*Boston Theater District
*Buffalo Theater District
*Cleveland Theater ...
and a major center of the world's
entertainment industry. Times Square is one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists,
while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days.
[ The Times Square-42nd Street station has consistently ranked as the busiest in the ]New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
system, transporting more than 200,000 passengers daily.
Formerly known as Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed in 1904 after ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' moved its headquarters to the then newly erected Times Building, now One Times Square
One Times Square (also known as 1475 Broadway, the New York Times Building, the New York Times Tower, or simply as the Times Tower) is a 25-story, skyscraper on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by ...
. It is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop
The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City's Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ...
, which began on December 31, 1907, and continues to attract over a million visitors to Times Square every year, in addition to a worldwide audience of one billion or more on various digital media platforms.
Times Square, specifically the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, is also the eastern terminus of the Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...
, the first road across the United States for motorized vehicles.
Geography
Times Square functions as a town square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
, but is not geometrically a square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
; it is closer in shape to a bowtie, with two triangles emanating roughly north and south from 45th Street, where Seventh Avenue intersects Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. The area is bounded by West 42nd
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
street, West 47th street, 7th Avenue, and Broadway. Broadway runs diagonally, crossing through the horizontal and vertical street grid of Manhattan laid down by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811
The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street and below 155th Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan on its march uptown ...
, and that intersection creates the "bowtie" shape of Times Square.
Times Square is the official name of the southern triangle, below 45th Street, but the northern triangle is officially Duffy Square. It was dedicated in 1937 to World War I chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy of the 69th New York Infantry Regiment
The 69th New York Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. It is from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. It is known as the "Fighting Sixty-Ninth", a name said to have been given by Robert E. ...
, and is the site of a memorial to him. There is also a statue of composer and entertainer George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
, and the TKTS
The TKTS ticket booths in New York City and London sell Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, music, and dance events and West End theatre tickets, respectively, at discounts of 20–50% off the face value.
New York City
New York City's TKTS (whic ...
discount ticket booth for Broadway and off-Broadway theaters.
History
Early history
When Manhattan Island was first settled by the Dutch colonists, three small streams united near what is now the intersection of 10th Avenue and 40th Street. These three streams formed the "Great Kill" (Dutch: ''Grote Kil''). From there the Great Kill wound through the low-lying Reed Valley, known for fish and waterfowl, and emptied into a deep bay in the Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
at the present 42nd Street. The name was retained in a tiny hamlet, Great Kill, that became a center for carriage-making, as the upland to the south and east became known as Longacre.
Before and after the American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, the area belonged to John Morin Scott
John Morin Scott (1730 – September 14, 1784) was a lawyer, military officer, and statesman before, during and after the American Revolution.
Early life
Scott was born in Manhattan in 1730. He was the only child of John Scott (1702–1733) ...
, a general of the New York militia
The New York Guard (NYG) is the state defense force of New York State, also called The New York State Military Reserve. Originally called the New York State Militia it can trace its lineage back to the American Revolution and the War of 1812.
Th ...
, in which he served under George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
. Scott's manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
was at what is currently 43rd Street, surrounded by countryside used for farming and breeding horses. In the first half of the 19th century, it became one of the prized possessions of John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by History of opium in China, smuggl ...
, who made a second fortune selling off lots to hotels and other real estate concerns as the city rapidly spread uptown.
By 1872, the area had become the center of New York's horse carriage industry. The locality had not previously been given a name, and city authorities called it Longacre Square after Long Acre
Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its coach-makers, and la ...
in London, where the horse and carriage trade was centered in that city. William Henry Vanderbilt
William Henry Vanderbilt (May 8, 1821 – December 8, 1885) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the eldest son of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, an heir to his fortune and a prominent member of the Vanderbilt family. Vanderbi ...
owned and ran the American Horse Exchange there. In 1910, it became the Winter Garden Theatre.
As more profitable commerce and industrialization of Lower Manhattan pushed homes, theaters, and prostitution northward from the Tenderloin District, Longacre Square became nicknamed the ''Thieves Lair'' for its rollicking reputation as a low entertainment district. The first theater on the square, the Olympia, was built by cigar manufacturer and impresario
An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer.
His ...
Oscar Hammerstein I
Oscar Hammerstein I (8 May 18461 August 1919) was a German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer in New York City. His passion for opera led him to open several opera houses, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America. He was ...
. According to ''Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898'', "By the early 1890s this once sparsely settled stretch of Broadway was ablaze with electric light and thronged by crowds of middle- and upper-class theatre, restaurant and cafe patrons."
1900s–1930s
In 1904, ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved the newspaper's operations to a new skyscraper on 42nd Street at Longacre Square, on the site of the former Pabst Hotel Pabst is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Adolf Pabst (1899–1990), American mineralogist and geologist
*Daniel Pabst (1826–1910), American furniture maker
*Frederick Pabst (1836–1904), American brewer
* Georg Wilhel ...
, which had existed on the site for less than a decade since it opened in November 1899. Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan Jr.
George Brinton McClellan Jr. (November 23, 1865November 30, 1940), was an American statesman, author, historian, and educator. The son of the American Civil War general and presidential candidate George B. McClellan, he was the 93rd Mayor of Ne ...
to construct a subway station
A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the ...
there, and the area was renamed "Times Square" on April 8, 1904.[ Barron, James]
"100 Years Ago, an Intersection's New Name: Times Square"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', April 8, 2004. Accessed May 26, 2017. Just three weeks later, the first electrified advertisement appeared on the side of a bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway. The north end later became Duffy Square, and the former Horse Exchange became the Winter Garden Theatre
The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...
, constructed in 1911.
''The New York Times'' moved to more spacious offices one block west of the square in 1913 and sold the building in 1961. The old Times Building was later named the Allied Chemical
Allied Corp. was a major American company with operations in the chemical, aerospace, automotive, oil and gas industries. It was initially formed in 1920 as the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation as an amalgamation of five chemical companies. In ...
Building in 1963. Now known simply as One Times Square
One Times Square (also known as 1475 Broadway, the New York Times Building, the New York Times Tower, or simply as the Times Tower) is a 25-story, skyscraper on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by ...
, it is famed for the Times Square Ball drop on its roof every New Year's Eve.
In 1913, the Lincoln Highway Association
The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 191 ...
, headed by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher
Carl Graham Fisher (January 12, 1874 – July 15, 1939) was an American entrepreneur. He was an important figure in the automotive industry, in highway construction, and in real estate development.
In his early life in Indiana, despite fa ...
, chose the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway (at the southeast corner of Times Square) to be the Eastern Terminus of the Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...
. This was the first road across the United States, which originally ran coast to coast through 13 states to its western terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco.
Times Square grew dramatically after World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.[Leach, William R. '' Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture'', p]
339
Knopf Doubleday
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
Publishing Group, 2011, . Accessed May 26, 2017. It became a cultural hub full of theatres, music halls, and upscale hotels.
Advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
also grew significantly in the 1920s, growing from $25 million to $85 million over the decade. For example, the Wrigley Spearmint Gum sign, possibly the biggest electric sign "in the world," cost $9,000 per month to rent. Some contemporary critics, such as Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known critic of capitalism.
In his best-known book, ''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' ...
[Leach (1993)]
p.345
/ref> and G. K. Chesterton,[Leach (1993)]
p.346
/ref> disliked the advertising at Times Square. Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
, after seeing Times Square in 1923, used it as inspiration for his dark industrial film ''Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big c ...
''.
Entertainment icons such as Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
, Charlie Chaplin, and Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
were closely associated with Times Square in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s. However, it was also during this period that the area began to be besieged by crime and corruption, in the form of gambling and prostitution; one case that garnered huge attention was the arrest and subsequent execution of police officer Charles Becker
Charles Becker (July 26, 1870 – July 30, 1915) was a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department between the 1890s and the 1910s. He is known for the scandal of being tried, convicted, and executed for the first-degree murder of the Man ...
.
1930s–1950s
The general atmosphere of Times Square changed with the onset of the Great Depression in the early 1930s. City residents moved uptown to cheaper neighborhoods, and many popular theaters closed, replaced by saloons, brothels, "burlesque halls, vaudeville stages, and dime houses". The area acquired a reputation as a dangerous and seedy neighborhood in the following decades.
Nevertheless, Times Square continued to be the site of the annual ball drop on New Year's Eve. The ball drop was placed on hiatus for New Year's Eve in 1942 and 1943 due to lighting restrictions during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Instead, a moment of silence was observed at midnight in Times Square, accompanied by the sound of chimes played from sound trucks.
On May 8, 1945, a massive crowd celebrated Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...
in Times Square; and on August 15, 1945, the largest crowd in the history of Times Square gathered to celebrate Victory over Japan Day
Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...
. The victory itself was announced by a headline on the "zipper" news ticker
A news ticker (sometimes called a "crawler", "crawl", "slide", "zipper", or "ticker tape") is a horizontal or vertical (depending on a language's writing system) text-based display either in the form of a graphic that typically resides in the lo ...
at One Times Square
One Times Square (also known as 1475 Broadway, the New York Times Building, the New York Times Tower, or simply as the Times Tower) is a 25-story, skyscraper on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by ...
, which read "OFFICIAL *** TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER ***
1960s–1990s
Decline
From the 1960s to the early 1990s, the seediness of the area, especially due to its go-go bars, sex shop
A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products.
An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in t ...
s, peep show
A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot.
Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the c ...
s, and adult theaters, became an infamous symbol of the city's decline. As early as 1960, 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues was described by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' as "the 'worst' lock
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
in town". Later that decade, Times Square was depicted in ''Midnight Cowboy
''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...
'' as gritty, depraved, and desperate. Conditions only worsened in the 1970s and 1980s, as did the crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
in the rest of the city. In the mid-1980s, the area bounded by 40th and 50th Streets and Seventh and Ninth Avenues saw over 15,000 crime complaints per year. The block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues had 2,300 crimes per year in 1984, of which one-fifth were felonies.
In this era, formerly elegant movie theaters began to show porn
Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults, , and hustlers were common. The area was so abandoned at one point during the time that the entire Times Square area paid the city only $6 million in property taxes (about $ million in ).
1980s building boom
In the 1980s, a commercial building boom began in the western parts of Midtown as part of a long-term development plan
A development plan sets out a local authority's policies and proposals for land use in their area. The term is usually used in the United Kingdom. A Local Plan is one type of development plan. The development plan guides and shapes day-to-day dec ...
developed under mayors Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...
and David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office.
Before enteri ...
. These included office buildings such as 1540 Broadway, 1585 Broadway, and 750 Seventh Avenue
750 Seventh Avenue is a 36-story office building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building was designed by Kevin Roche of Roche-Dinkeloo and developed by David and Jean Solomon. 750 Seventh Avenue occupies a site on ...
, as well as hotels such as the Macklowe Hotel, Marriott Marquis Marriott Marquis is a hotel brand owned by Marriott International and denotes flagship, large-format hotels similar to Hyatt's Hyatt Regency brand. Notable hotels using this branding include:
* New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York ...
, Crowne Plaza
Crowne Plaza is a British multinational chain of full service, upscale hotels headquartered in the United Kingdom. It caters to business travelers and the meetings and conventions market. It forms part of the InterContinental Hotels Group family ...
, and DoubleTree Suites. By 1986, New York City Planning Commission
The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...
(CPC) was considering enacting regulations that would have forced new buildings along Times Square to include bright signage as well as deep setbacks. The CPC adopted a planning regulation in 1987, which required large new developments in Times Square to set aside about 5 percent of their space for "entertainment uses". The regulation also required new buildings on Times Square to include large, bright signs.
The buildings at 1540 Broadway, 1585 Broadway, and 750 Seventh Avenue were completed at with the beginning of the early 1990s recession, when 14.5 percent of Manhattan office space was vacant. Furthermore, some of office space in the western section of Midtown had been developed in the 1980s, of which only half had been leased. Consequently, 1540 Broadway was completely empty, while 1585 Broadway and 750 Seventh Avenue had one tenant each, despite the buildings having over of office space between them. Entertainment conglomerate Bertelsmann bought 1540 Broadway in 1992, spurring a revival of Times Square in the early 1990s. This was hastened when financial firm Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
bought 1585 Broadway in 1993, followed by 750 Seventh Avenue in 1994.
42nd Street Redevelopment, further revitalization
The Empire State Development Corporation
Empire State Development (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the New York Job Development Authority (JDA). T ...
(ESDC), an agency of the New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. Four towers designed by Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...
and John Burgee
__NOTOC__
John Burgee (born August 28, 1933) is an American architect noted for his contributions to Postmodern architecture. He was a partner of Philip Johnson from 1967 to 1991, creating together the partnership firm Johnson/Burgee Architects ...
were to be built around 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
and Seventh Avenue. These towers would have been redeveloped by George Klein of Park Tower Realty, though the Prudential Insurance Company of America
Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...
joined the project in 1986. Furthermore, as part of the West Midtown special zoning district created in 1982, the New York City government had allowed new buildings in Times Square to be developed with an increased floor area ratio. To ensure the area would not be darkened at nightfall, the city passed zoning regulations that encouraged developers to add large, bright signs on their buildings.
In 1990, the State of New York
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...
took possession of six of the nine historic theaters on 42nd Street, and the New 42nd Street
The New 42nd Street is a not-for-profit organization based in Manhattan, New York City. In 1990, the New 42nd Street was formed to oversee the redevelopment of seven neglected and historic theatres on 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Ave ...
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
was appointed to oversee their restoration and maintenance. The theaters underwent renovation for Broadway shows, conversion for commercial purposes, or demolition. Opposition to the towers on Times Square, along with Prudential and Park Tower's inability to secure tenants for the proposed buildings, led government officials to allow Prudential and Park Tower to postpone the project in 1992. By then, Prudential had spent $300 million on condemning the sites through eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
. The partners retained the right to develop the sites in the future, and the ESDC's zoning guidelines remained in effect. In exchange for being permitted to delay construction of the sites until 2002, Prudential and Park Tower were compelled to add stores and install large signage on the existing buildings.
In 1992, the Times Square Alliance (formerly the Times Square Business Improvement District, or "BID" for short), a coalition of city government and local businesses dedicated to improving the quality of commerce and cleanliness in the district, started operations in the area. In 1998, the alliance opened a tourist information center in the former Embassy Theatre at 1560 Broadway; the information center operated until 2014.
In the mid-1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led an effort to clean up the area, an effort that is described by Steve Macek in ''Urban Nightmares: The Media, the Right, and the Moral Panic Over the City'': Security was increased, pornographic theatres were closed, and "undesirable" low-rent residents were pressured to relocate, and then more tourist-friendly attractions and upscale establishments were opened. Advocates of the remodeling claim that the neighborhood is safer and cleaner. Detractors have countered that the changes have homogenized or "Disneyfied" the character of Times Square and have unfairly targeted lower-income New Yorkers from nearby neighborhoods such as Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...
. The changes were shaped in large part by the actions of The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
, which bought and restored the New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built fro ...
after several attempts at redevelopment had failed. As part of a contract with Disney, officials from the city and state evicted the pornographic theaters and contracted with Madame Tussauds and AMC Theatres
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...
to move onto 42nd Street. This spurred the construction of new office towers, hotels, and tourist attractions in the area.
Prudential and Klein dissolved their partnership for the four office-building sites at Times Square's southern end in 1996. The same year, Douglas Durst
Douglas Durst (born December 19, 1944) is an American real estate investor and developer. He is the president of the Durst Organization, which he has been in charge of since 1992.
Early life and education
Durst was born in New York City in 1944< ...
acquired the site at the northeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street, and he developed 4 Times Square there. The northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street was taken by Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
, which enlisted Rudin Management as its development partner and built 3 Times Square on that corner; that building opened in 2001. In 1998, a joint venture of Klein, The Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
, and Boston Properties
Boston Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in premier workplaces in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. As of June 30, 2022, the company owned or had interest ...
won the right to acquire the sites at the southwest and southeast corners of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue for $330 million. 5 Times Square was completed on the southwest-corner site in 2002, and Times Square Tower
Times Square Tower, also known as 7 Times Square, is a 48-story office skyscraper at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Located on the city block bounded by Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, ...
opened on the southeast-corner site in 2004.
Effects
Times Square now boasts attractions such as ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's Times Square Studios
Times Square Studios (TSS) is an American television studio owned by The Walt Disney Company, located on the southeastern corner of West 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The studio is best known as the ...
, where '' Good Morning America'' is broadcast live; competing Hershey's and M&M's
M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...
stores across the street from each other, and multiple multiplex movie theaters. Additionally, the area contains restaurants such as the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is an American seafood restaurant chain inspired by the 1994 film ''Forrest Gump''. As of October 2022, thirty-four Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants operate worldwide. Twenty-two of these locations are in the United ...
, a seafood establishment; Planet Hollywood Restaurant and Bar, a theme restaurant
A theme restaurant is a type of restaurant that uses theming to attract diners by creating a memorable experience. Theme restaurants have a unifying or dominant subject or concept, and utilize architecture, decor, special effects, and other tech ...
; and Carmine's, serving Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and later spread around the world together with wave ...
. It has also attracted several large financial, publishing, and media firms to set up headquarters in the area. A larger presence of police has improved the safety of the area.
The theatres of Broadway and the huge number of animated neon and LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
signs have been one of New York's iconic images as well as a symbol of the intensely urban aspects of Manhattan. Since 1987 such signage has been mandated by zoning ordinances that require building owners to display illuminated signs, the only district in New York City with this requirement. The neighborhood has a minimum limit for lighting instead of the standard maximum limit. The density of illuminated signs in Times Square rivals that in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Officially, signs in Times Square are called "spectaculars", and the largest of them are called " jumbotrons". This signage ordinance was implemented in accordance with guidelines set in a revitalization program that New York Governor Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...
implemented in 1993.
Notable signage includes the Toshiba
, commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...
billboard directly under the NYE ball drop, the curved seven-story NASDAQ sign at the NASDAQ MarketSite at 4 Times Square on 43rd Street, and the curved Coca-Cola sign
The Coca-Cola sign is an electro-kinetic sculpture on the Two Times Square building in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. The current sign, installed in 2017, is tall and wide, and is the latest in a line of Coca-Cola Times Square signs ...
located underneath another large LED display owned and operated by Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
. Both the Coca-Cola sign and Samsung LED displays were built by LED display manufacturer Daktronics
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. Founded in 1968 by ...
. Times Square's first environmentally friendly billboard powered by wind and solar energy was first lit on December 4, 2008. On completion, the 20 Times Square
20 Times Square is a 39-story mixed-use development at 701 Seventh Avenue, on the northeast corner with West 47th Street at the northern end of Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. (May 21, 2014) The development includes one of Ian Schrager ...
development will host the largest LED signage in Times Square at 18,000 square feet. The display will be 1,000 square feet larger than the Times Square Walgreens
Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...
display and one of the largest video-capable screens in the world.
2000s–present
In 2002, New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani administered the oath of office to the city's next mayor, Michael Bloomberg, at Times Square after midnight on January 1 as part of the 2001–02 New Year's celebration. Approximately 500,000 revelers attended. Security was high following the September 11 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
in 2001, with more than 7,000 New York City police officers on duty in the Square, twice the number for an ordinary year.
Times Square started hosting other major annual events in the 2000s. Since 2002, the summer solstice has been marked by "Mind over Madness", a mass yoga event involving up to 15,000 people. Tim Tompkins, a co-founder of the event, said part of its appeal was "finding stillness and calm amid the city rush on the longest day of the year". Architect Mark Foster Gage
Mark Foster Gage (born November 22, 1973) is an American designer, theoretician, theorist and founder of Mark Foster Gage Architects in New York City. He is a tenured associate professor and former assistant dean, from 2010 to 2019, at the Yale ...
proposed and designed the original Times Square Valentine's Day heart in 2009. Since then, designing the heart has become an annual competition.
In February 2011, Times Square became smoke-free as New York extended the outdoors smoking ban to the area. The measure imposed a $50 fine for any person caught smoking within the area. From January 29 to February 1, 2014, a "Super Bowl Boulevard" was held on Broadway, especially in Times Square, between 34th and 47th Streets, as part of Super Bowl XLVIII
Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...
. The boulevard contained activities such as autographs, a -high toboggan run
A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada.
In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hil ...
, and photographs with the Vince Lombardi Trophy
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to vic ...
. The area was under increased security and witnessed over 400,000 people during the period.
In October 2022, casino operator Caesars Entertainment and commercial property developer SL Green
SL Green Realty Corp. is a real estate investment trust that primarily invests in office buildings and shopping centers in New York City. As of December 31, 2019, the company owned 43 properties comprising 14,438,964 square feet.
Notable prope ...
submitted a joint proposal to open a casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
at 1515 Broadway
One Astor Plaza, also known as 1515 Broadway and formerly the W. T. Grant Building, is a 54-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Der Scutt of Ely J. Kahn & Jacobs, the ...
, along Times Square. The New York state government has yet to act on the proposal.
Pedestrian plaza
On February 26, 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that traffic lanes along Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
from 42nd Street to 47th Street would be de-mapped starting Memorial Day 2009 and transformed into pedestrian plazas as a trial until at least the end of the year. The same was done in Herald Square
Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct ''New ...
from 33rd to 35th Street. The results were to be closely monitored to determine if the project was successful and should be extended. Bloomberg also stated that he believed the street shutdown would make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian-vehicle accidents, and helping traffic flow more smoothly through the Midtown street grid.
The pedestrian plaza project was originally opposed by local businesses, who thought that closing the street to cars would hurt business. The original seats put out for pedestrians were inexpensive multicolored plastic lawn chairs, a source of amusement to many New Yorkers; they lasted from the onset of the plaza transformation until August 14, 2009, when they were ceremoniously bundled together in an installation christened ''Now You See It, Now You Don't'' by the artist Jason Peters, and shortly afterward were replaced by sturdier metal furniture. Although the plaza had mixed results on traffic in the area, injuries to motorists and pedestrians decreased, fewer pedestrians were walking in the road, and the number of pedestrians in Times Square increased. On February 11, 2010, Bloomberg announced that the pedestrian plazas would become permanent.
The city started rebuilding the plaza in 2010, hiring the design and landscaping firm Snøhetta
Snøhetta is the highest mountain in the Dovrefjell mountain range in Norway. At , it is the highest mountain in Norway outside the Jotunheimen range, making it the 24th highest peak in Norway, based on a topographic prominence cutoff. At , ...
to permanently replace Broadway's roadway with custom-made granite pavers and benches. By December 2013, the first phase of the Times Square pedestrian plaza had been completed at the southern end of the square in time for the Times Square Ball drop on New Year's Eve. The project was originally intended to be completed by the end of 2015. The entire project was finally completed just before New Year's Eve 2016. Some safety bollards were also installed as part of the renovation to prevent vehicular attacks or collisions
In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great f ...
on the sidewalk. After a 2017 vehicle-ramming attack, there were calls to install more bollards along Times Square.
Times Square's pedestrian plaza is frequented by topless
Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness.
Expose ...
women (with painted breasts) called "desnuda
A desnuda is a seminude, topless female performer covered in body paint who poses for photos in exchange for tips in the pedestrian plaza of New York City's Times Square. The desnudas typically wear thong underwear and high heels, and use red, whi ...
s", as well as costumed characters
A costumed performer or suit performer wears a costume that usually, (but not always) covers the performer's face, typically to represent a non-human character such as a mascot or cartoon character. These range from theme park "walk-around" or "m ...
, who typically panhandle for tips. The pedestrian plaza became a source of controversy in the summer of 2015 because of a large number of complaints about the topless women and panhandling characters. Although neither of these activities was illegal, opponents believed that the panhandlers' presence was detrimental to the quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
in the area. There were calls from Police Commissioner Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio to remove the plaza, although Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer
Gale Arnot Brewer (born September 6, 1951) is an American Democratic politician from the state of New York who has represented the 6th New York City Council District since January 2022, a position she previously held from 2002 to 2013. From Janu ...
opposed the proposal. In June 2016, work started on "pedestrian flow zones" where no one was allowed to loiter, as well as "activity zones" where costumed characters were allowed to perform.
Incidents
There have been several incidents in Times Square:
* On the morning of March 6, 2008, a small bomb caused minor damage, but there were no reported injuries.
* On May 1, 2010, Times Square was evacuated from 43rd to 46th Streets following the discovery of a car bomb. It was found to be a failed bombing.
* On May 18, 2017, a vehicle-ramming attack at Times Square killed one person and injured 22 others.
* On August 7, 2019, shortly after the shootings in El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
, and Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
, a backfiring
A backfire or afterburn is combustion or an explosion produced by a running internal combustion engine that occurs in the exhaust system, rather than inside the combustion chamber. It is also sometimes referred to as an afterfire, especially i ...
motorcycle resulted in a stampede
A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...
due to the sound being mistaken for gunfire; the stampede injured at least twelve people.
* On May 8, 2021, a dispute between a group of men led to a shooting in which three bystanders were wounded, including a four-year-old girl.
* On June 27, 2021, a dispute between a group of street vendors led to a shooting in which a 21-year-old bystander was wounded.
Number of visitors
Times Square is the most visited place globally with 360,000 pedestrian visitors a day, amounting to over 131 million a year. , it had a greater attendance than do each of the Disney theme parks
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...
worldwide, with 128,794,000 visitors between March 2012 and February 2013, versus 126,479,000 for the Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
theme parks in Bay Lake, Florida, in 2012. Even excluding residents from the visitor count, Times Square is the world's second most visited tourist attraction, behind the Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...
. The high level of pedestrian traffic has resulted in $4.8 billion in annual retail, entertainment, and hotel sales,[Times Square Economic Impact Update, Times Square Alliance / HRA](_blank)
March 2012 with 22 cents out of every dollar spent by visitors in New York City being spent within Times Square.
New Year's Eve celebrations
Times Square is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop. About one million revelers crowd Times Square for the New Year's Eve celebrations, more than twice the usual number of visitors the area usually receives daily. However, for the millennium celebration on December 31, 1999, published reports stated approximately two million people overflowed Times Square, flowing from Sixth Avenue to Eighth Avenue and back on Broadway and Seventh Avenue to 59th Street, making it the largest gathering in Times Square since August 1945 during celebrations marking the end of World War II.
On December 31, 1907, a ball signifying New Year's Day was first dropped at Times Square, and the Square has held the main New Year's celebration in New York City ever since. On that night, hundreds of thousands of people congregate to watch the Waterford Crystal
Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of lead glass or "crystal", especially in cut glass, named after the city of Waterford, Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was closed due to the ...
ball being lowered on a pole atop the building, marking the start of the new year. It replaced a lavish fireworks display from the top of the building that was held from 1904 to 1906 but stopped by city officials because of the danger of fire. Beginning in 1908, and for more than eighty years thereafter, Times Square sign maker Artkraft Strauss
Artkraft Strauss is a sign design and consulting company headquartered in Manhattan, New York. Throughout the 20th century, the company was the preeminent designer and creator of Times Square's iconic signs and displays. These included the “s ...
was responsible for the ball-lowering. During World War II, a minute of silence, followed by a recording of church bells pealing, replaced the ball drop because of wartime blackout restrictions. Today, Countdown Entertainment and One Times Square handle the New Year's Eve event in conjunction with the Times Square Alliance. A new energy-efficient LED ball debuted for the arrival of 2008, which was the centennial of the Times Square ball drop. The 2008–09 ball is larger and has become a permanent installation as a year-round attraction, being used for celebrations on days such as Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...
and Halloween.
The New Year's Eve celebrations are usually overseen by thousands of police officers. Aluminum barriers are erected to accommodate spectators; for the 2020 celebration, attended by a million people, barriers were erected from 38th to 59th Street and from Sixth to Eighth Avenue.[ Typically, the celebrations create large amounts of waste. The ]New York City Department of Sanitation
The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal.
The DSNY motto "New York's Strongest" was coined ...
estimated that by 8 a.m. on New Year's Day 2014, it had cleared over of trash from the New Year's celebration, using 190 workers from their crews and the Times Square Alliance.
Impact of COVID-19
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City during 2020 reduced the number of people traveling to Times Square. About 108,000 pedestrians visited Times Square each day in late 2020 compared to the 380,000 before the pandemic. From March to October 2020, 26 of the area's 46 hotels closed, as well as 39 of 151 stores and 84 of 162 restaurants. Times Square was closed to the public for New Year's Day 2021 and observers were dispersed into enclosures measuring .
Notable landmarks
Times Square is a busy intersection of art and commerce, where scores of advertisements – electric, neon and illuminated signs and "zipper" news crawls – vie for viewers' attention. Notable examples include:
* Coca-Cola sign
The Coca-Cola sign is an electro-kinetic sculpture on the Two Times Square building in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. The current sign, installed in 2017, is tall and wide, and is the latest in a line of Coca-Cola Times Square signs ...
* Disney Store
The Disney Store is a chain of specialty stores selling only Disney related items, many of them exclusive, under its own name and Disney Outlet. It was a business unit of Disney Consumer Products with the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products s ...
* Fashion One
Fashion One is a 24-hour New York City-based television network founded by German entrepreneur, Michael Gleissner and owned by the Miami Beach, Florida-based entertainment company, Bigfoot Entertainment. Officially launched on April 8, 2010, the ...
* Forever 21 (formerly Virgin Megastores
Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded in early 1976 by Richard Branson as a record shop on London's Oxford Street.
In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Tottenha ...
)
* Hard Rock Cafe New York
* M&M's World
* MTV
* Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl Ent ...
* Palladium Times Square
Palladium Times Square (formerly PlayStation Theater, Best Buy Theater and Nokia Theatre Times Square) is an indoor live events venue in New York City, located in One Astor Plaza, at the corner of Broadway and 44th Street. It was designed by archi ...
* Revlon
Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it still remains. Revlon was founded by brother ...
* Times Square Studios
Times Square Studios (TSS) is an American television studio owned by The Walt Disney Company, located on the southeastern corner of West 44th Street and Broadway in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The studio is best known as the ...
– used primarily for selected ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
and ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
programs, such as '' Good Morning America''
* TKTS
The TKTS ticket booths in New York City and London sell Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, music, and dance events and West End theatre tickets, respectively, at discounts of 20–50% off the face value.
New York City
New York City's TKTS (whic ...
– the Theatre Development Fund
The Theatre Development Fund (TDF) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to assisting the theatre industry in New York City. Created in 1968 to help an ailing New York theatre industry, TDF has grown into the nation's largest performing arts nonp ...
's reduced-price ticket booth has, since 2008, been backed by a red, sloped, triangular set of bleacher-like stairs, which is frequented by residents and tourists.
* ''Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
'' - a permanently installed sound art
Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...
piece by Max Neuhaus
Max Neuhaus (August 9, 1939 – February 3, 2009) was an American musician, composer and artist who was a noted interpreter of contemporary and experimental percussion music in the 1960s. He went on to create numerous permanent and short-term sou ...
between 45th and 46th Streets.
Major buildings on or near Times Square
* 1 Astor Plaza
One Astor Plaza, also known as 1515 Broadway and formerly the W. T. Grant Building, is a 54-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Der Scutt of Ely J. Kahn & Jacobs, the ...
(home of Fashion One
Fashion One is a 24-hour New York City-based television network founded by German entrepreneur, Michael Gleissner and owned by the Miami Beach, Florida-based entertainment company, Bigfoot Entertainment. Officially launched on April 8, 2010, the ...
, Revlon
Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it still remains. Revlon was founded by brother ...
and MTV's New York studios)
* 750 Seventh Avenue
750 Seventh Avenue is a 36-story office building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building was designed by Kevin Roche of Roche-Dinkeloo and developed by David and Jean Solomon. 750 Seventh Avenue occupies a site on ...
* 1500 Broadway
* 1530 Broadway, the Bowtie Building
* 1540 Broadway, the Bertelsmann Building
* 1552 Broadway, the I. Miller Building
* 1560 Broadway, the Actors' Equity Building, including the former Embassy Theatre
* 1585 Broadway, the Morgan Stanley Building
* Axa Equitable Center
* Bank of America Tower
* Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...
* Bush Tower
The Bush Tower (also the Bush Terminal Building, the Bush Terminal International Exhibit Building and formerly the Bush Terminal Sales Building) is a skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, just east of Times Square ...
* Church of Saint Mary the Virgin
* The New York Times Building
The New York Times Building is a 52-story skyscraper at 620 Eighth Avenue, between 40th and 41st Streets, on the west side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Its chief tenant is the New York Times Company, publisher of ''The New York Time ...
* Palace Theatre
"Numbered" Times Square buildings
* One Times Square
One Times Square (also known as 1475 Broadway, the New York Times Building, the New York Times Tower, or simply as the Times Tower) is a 25-story, skyscraper on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by ...
– The former New York Times Tower (1904)
* 2 Times Square – Renaissance Hotel Times Square (1992)
* 3 Times Square – Thomson Reuters Building (1998–2001)
* 4 Times Square – Condé Nast Building (1996–1999)
* 5 Times Square – Ernst & Young Building (1999–2002)
* 7 Times Square – Times Square Tower (2002–2004)
* 11 Times Square
Eleven Times Square is an office and retail tower located at 640 Eighth Avenue, at the intersection with West 42nd Street, in the Times Square and West Midtown neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The 40-story, tower rises , making it t ...
– Times Square Plaza (2007–2010)
* 20 Times Square
20 Times Square is a 39-story mixed-use development at 701 Seventh Avenue, on the northeast corner with West 47th Street at the northern end of Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. (May 21, 2014) The development includes one of Ian Schrager ...
– 701 7th Avenue (2019)
Hotels
* Hotel Carter
The Hotel Carter was a hotel at 250 West 43rd Street, near Times Square, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Opened in June 1930 as the Dixie Hotel, the 25-story structure originally extended from 43rd Street to 42nd Street ...
* Crowne Plaza Times Square
* Doubletree Guest Suites
DoubleTree by Hilton is an American hotel chain managed by Hilton Worldwide. DoubleTree has been the fastest growing Hilton brand by number of properties since 2007, and by number of rooms from 2007 to 2015. As of December 31, 2019, it has 587 p ...
* Hotel Edison
Hotel Edison is at 228 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931, it is part of the Triumph Hotels brand, owned by Shimmie Horn and Gerald Barad. Thomas Edison turned on the lights when it opened. It accommodated 1,0 ...
* The Knickerbocker Hotel
The Knickerbocker Hotel is a hotel at Times Square, on the southeastern corner of Broadway and 42nd Street, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built by John Jacob Astor IV, the hostelry was designed in 1901 and opened in ...
(6 Times Square)
* Millennium Broadway
The Millennium Times Square New York (formerly the Hotel Macklowe and the Millennium Broadway) is a hotel at 133 and 145 West 44th Street, between Times Square and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. ...
* New York Marriott Marquis
* Renaissance Hotel Times Square (2 Times Square)
* Sheraton New York
* Times Square Edition
* W Times Square
W Hotels is an American upscale lifestyle hotel chain owned by Marriott International that is marketed towards a younger age group.
History
W Hotels was launched in 1998 with W New York, a conversion of the former Doral Inn hotel on Lexington ...
* Hilton Times Square
Hilton or Hylton may refer to:
Companies
* Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name
** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...
Corporate presence
The following companies have corporate presences in the area:
* Bain & Company
Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...
* Barclays Capital
Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services.
Barclays traces ...
(formerly Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...
)
* Bertelsmann
* BMO Capital Markets
BMO Capital Markets is the investment banking subsidiary of Canadian Bank of Montreal. The company offers corporate, institutional and government clients access to a range of financial services. These include equity and debt underwriting, c ...
* Condé Nast Publications
* Diamond Management & Technology Consultants
Diamond Management & Technology Consultants (casually referred to as Diamond) was an independent management consulting firm founded in 1994, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with satellite offices in Hartford, Connecticut, New York City, Washing ...
* Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...
* Fashion One
Fashion One is a 24-hour New York City-based television network founded by German entrepreneur, Michael Gleissner and owned by the Miami Beach, Florida-based entertainment company, Bigfoot Entertainment. Officially launched on April 8, 2010, the ...
* Instinet
Instinet is an institutional, agency-model broker that also serves as the independent equity trading arm of its parent, Nomura Group. It executes trades for asset management firms, hedge funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and pension fund ...
* King & Spalding
King & Spalding LLP is an American international corporate law firm that is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and with offices located in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has over 1,200 lawyers in 23 offices globally. It is A ...
* Logo TV
Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progr ...
* Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
* MTV
* Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
* The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.
History
The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. T ...
* Refinitiv
Refinitiv is an American-British global provider of financial market data and infrastructure. The company was founded in 2018. It is a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange Group after a US$27 billion sale from previous owners Blackstone Group LP ...
* Revlon
Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it still remains. Revlon was founded by brother ...
* Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue. The company is known for its wor ...
* O'Melveny & Myers
* Six Flags Inc.
* Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre.
Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...
* Paramount Global
Paramount Global ( doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. ...
* Paramount Media Networks
Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
Contemporary artists regularly perform on Times Square. Examples include ''test patterns imes square' by Ryoji Ikeda
Ryoji Ikeda (池田 亮司 ''Ikeda Ryōji'', born 1966) is a Japanese visual and sound artist who currently lives and works in Paris, France. Ikeda's music is concerned primarily with sound in a variety of "raw" states, such as sine tones and noi ...
and ''Continuum'' by Krista Kim
Krista Kim is a Canadian-Korean contemporary artist whose works frequently use light, digital technology and sound. Kim produced a number of touring installations and displays, along with other works which have been sold as non-fungible tokens (N ...
.
In popular culture
An immediately recognizable location, Times Square has been featured countless times in literature, films, video games, music videos, and on television.
The seediness of the area was featured prominently in such films as ''Midnight Cowboy
''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...
'' (1969), '' Born to Win'' (1971), and ''Taxi Driver
''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying ...
'' (1976). The area was shown in the 1980 film ''Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
'', which featured a punk rock/ new wave soundtrack. It was also depicted in the 2011 movie ''New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
''. The area also appeared on ''The Amazing Race
''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...
'' as the starting location in a race around the world in the first episode of the show's 25th season, as well as on the sixth season of the Israeli edition of ''The Amazing Race'' with teams finishing their second leg in Times Square.
Times Square has been fictionally attacked and destroyed in several movies, including '' Knowing'', when a solar flare
A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other sol ...
destroys New York City;[Knight, Gladys L]
''Pop Culture Places: An Encyclopedia of Places in American Popular Culture''
p. 870. Accessed October 5, 2016. "In ''Knowing'' (2009), the area is one of several iconic places ravaged by a solar flare." '' Deep Impact'', when a tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...
created from a meteor
A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space.
Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...
impact destroys New York City; the 1998 film ''Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...
'', where Godzilla is chased through the square; the ''Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, thr ...
'' movies; Stephen King's ''The Stand
''The Stand'' is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few survivin ...
'', where the intersection is overcome by total anarchy; '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'', and ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' is a children's book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It was first published in 1978 by Atheneum Books, followed by a 1982 trade paperback edition from sister company Aladdin Paperb ...
''. It was also seen in the festival battle scene in the 2002 film '' Spider-Man'', and a stand-off in the later film ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2
''The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' (internationally titled ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro'') is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film was directed by Marc Webb and produced by Avi A ...
''.
Films and TV shows have also employed the opposite tactic, depicting the typically bustling area as eerily still, such as in ''Vanilla Sky
''Vanilla Sky'' is a 2001 American science fiction thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by Cameron Crowe. It is an English-language remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish film '' Open Your Eyes'', which was written by Amenábar ...
,'' as well as the post-apocalyptic '' I Am Legend'', in which Will Smith
Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...
and his dog go hunting for deer in the deserted urban canyon.[ In the pilot episode of the TV series '' Blindspot'', Times Square is completely emptied due to an abandoned bag being suspected to be a bomb.
Times Square also has featured prominently in video games. For instance, in '']Grand Theft Auto IV
''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the e ...
'', a recreation of the Times Square area referred to in-game as "Star Junction", is included in the game's fictional " Liberty City" setting.[ Times Square is also shown in '']Battlefield 3
''Battlefield 3'' is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a direct sequel to 2005's ''Battlefield 2''.
In ''Battlefield 3''s campaign, ...
'', where the final fight with the main antagonist takes place, where the player must stop him from detonating a nuclear bomb in the square; and ''Crysis 2
''Crysis 2'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek, published by Electronic Arts and released in North America, Australia and Europe in March 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Officially announced on Jun ...
'', in which player must fight off attacking alien forces to assist U.S. Marines in evacuating the area. ''Gran Turismo 4
''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 racing video game for the PlayStation 2, the fourth installment in the main ''Gran Turismo'' series and the sixth for the overall series. It was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entert ...
'' also features Times Square both as a photo spot and as a part of the New York city circuit which also includes Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
.
See also
* Duffy Square, the northern section of Times Square between 45th and 47th Streets
* Good Riddance Day
Good Riddance Day is an unofficial holiday in New York City's Times Square celebrating the departure of unwanted memories, observed on December 28 since 2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Ap ...
, an unofficial holiday celebrated at Times Square since 2007
* Midtown Community Court
The Midtown Community Court is a part of the New York City Criminal Court that focuses on quality-of-life offenses, such as prostitution, shoplifting, farebeating and vandalism, with a view toward rehabilitation instead of punishment. For example ...
, a branch of the New York City Criminal Court
The Criminal Court of the City of New York is a court of the State Unified Court System in New York City that handles misdemeanors (generally, crimes punishable by fine or imprisonment of up to one year) and lesser offenses, and also conducts a ...
that primarily focuses on quality of life around Times Square
* Naked Cowboy, New York City street performer and prominent fixture of Times Square
* Theater District, ManhattanTheater District
NYC.com. Accessed January 10, 2017.
* Times Square – 42nd Street / Port Authority Bus Terminal (New York City Subway), Times Square – 42nd Street / Port Authority Bus Terminal subway station serving the
* Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...
, the terminus of which was in Times Square
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Brown, H. (1922) ''Valentine's Manual of Old New York''. Valentine.
* Fazio, W. (2000) ''Times Square'', Children's Press.
* Friedman, J. (1993) ''Tales of Times Square'' Feral House.
*
*
* Taylor, W. (1996) ''Inventing Times Square'', Johns Hopkins U. Press.
* James Traub, Traub, James (2004) ''The Devil's Playground: A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square'' New York: Random House.
External links
Times Square live camera
The Times Square Alliance
an
Events Listing
Times Square 360 panorama
"The Changing Face of Times Square"
at the New York Public Library website
Times Square Arts Center
New York City Tourist
{{Authority control
Times Square,
Pedestrian malls in the United States
Road junctions in the United States
Theater District, Manhattan
Tourist attractions in Manhattan
Lincoln Highway
Squares in Manhattan
Symbols of New York City
Historical red-light districts in the United States
Red-light districts in New York (state)