thumb|right|350px|Billboards advertising 47 St. and
7th Ave./" class="wiki">Broadway shows at
47 St. and
7th Ave.Times Square is a major intersection in
Manhattan, a borough of
New York City, at the junction of
Broadway and
Seventh Avenue and stretching from West
42nd to West
47th Streets. The Times Square area consists of the blocks between Sixth and
Eighth Avenues from east to west, and West 40th and West
53rd Streets from south to north, making up the western part of the commercial area of
Midtown Manhattan.
Formerly named
Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed after the Times Building (now
One Times Square) in April 1904. Times Square, sometimes known as the
"Crossroads of the World," has achieved the status of an iconic world landmark and has become a symbol of New York City. Times Square is principally defined by its
spectaculars, animated, digital advertisements.
The intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, at the south-east corner of Times Square, is the Eastern Terminus of the
Lincoln Highway, the first road across the
United States of America.
History
Broadway at 42nd St in 1880.
Before and after the
American Revolution, the area belonged to
John Morin Scott, a
general of the New York
militia where he served under
George Washington. Scott's
Manor House was at what is now 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, who made a second fortune selling off
lots to
hotels and other
real estate concerns as the city rapidly spread
uptown.
In 1904,
New York Times publisher
Adolph S. Ochs moved the
newspaper's operations to a new
skyscraper on 42nd Street in
Longacre Square. Ochs persuaded Mayor
George B. McClellan, Jr. to construct a
subway station there, and the area was renamed "Times Square" on April 8, 1904. Just three weeks later, the first electrified
advertisement appeared on the side of a
bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway.
The New York Times, according to Nolan, moved to more spacious offices across Broadway in 1913. The old Times Building was later named the
Allied Chemical Building. Now known simply as
One Times Square, it is famed for the
Times Square Ball drop on its roof every
New Year's Eve.
Also in 1913, the Lincoln Highway Association, headed by entrepreneur
Carl G. Fisher, 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 first road across America, which originally spanned coast-to-coast through 13 states to its Western Terminus in
Lincoln Park in
San Francisco, California.
thumb|Crowd awaits news of a 1921 prizefightAs the growth in New York City continued, Times Square quickly became a cultural hub full of
theaters,
music halls, and upscale hotels.
Celebrities such as
Irving Berlin,
Fred Astaire, and
Charlie Chaplin were closely associated with Times Square in the 1910s and 1920s. During this period, the area was nicknamed
The Tenderloin because it was supposedly the most desirable location in
Manhattan. However, it was during this period that the area was 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.
The general atmosphere changed with the onset of the
Great Depression in the 1930s. Times Square acquired a reputation as a dangerous
neighborhood in the following decades. From the 1960s to the early 1990s, the seediness of the area, especially its adult businesses, became an infamous
symbol of the city's
decline.
In the 1980s, a commercial building boom began in the western parts of the Midtown as part of a long-term
development plan developed under Mayor
Ed Koch and
David Dinkins. In the mid-1990s, Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani (1994–2002) led an effort to "clean up" the area, increasing
security, driving out
pornographic theatres, drug dealers and "
squeegee men", and opening more
tourist-friendly
attractions and
upscale establishments. Advocates of the
remodeling claim that the neighborhood is safer and cleaner. Detractors, on the other hand, argue that the changes have diluted or
"Disneyfied" the character of Times Square and have unfairly targeted lower income New Yorkers from nearby neighborhoods such as
Hell's Kitchen.
In 1990, the state of New York took possession of six of the nine historic theatres on 42nd Street, and the
New 42nd Street nonprofit organization was appointed to oversee their restoration and maintenance. The theatres were renovated for Broadway shows, converted for commercial purposes, or demolished.
New Year's Eve
Times Square is the site of the annual
New Year's Eve ball drop. 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 ball being lowered on a pole atop the building (though not to the street, as is a common misconception), marking the new year. It replaced a lavish fireworks display from the top of the building that was held from 1904 to 1906, only to be outlawed by city officials.
. Beginning in 1908, and for more than eighty years thereafter, Times Square sign maker
Artkraft Strauss 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.
JumboTron at the center of Times Square identifying the new year.
A new energy-efficient LED ball, celebrating the centennial of the
ball drop, debuted for the arrival of 2008. The newest ball, which was dropped on New Year's Eve (Wednesday, December 31, 2008)
[http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_ball.html] for the arrival of 2009, is larger and will become a permanent installation as a year-round attraction, being used for celebrations such as Valentine's Day and Halloween.
On average, about 1 million revelers crowd Times Square for the New Year's Eve celebrations. However, for the millennium celebration on December 31, 1999, published reports stated approximately two million people overflowed Times Square, flowing from 6th Avenue to 8th Avenue and all the way back on Broadway and Seventh Avenues to 59th Street, making it the largest gathering in Times Square since August 1945 during
celebrations marking the end of World War II.
In 1972, entertainer
Dick Clark began hosting a live half-hour
ABC special detailing the event entitled
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which not only aired the descent of the ball, but also performances from popular bands and commentary from various hosts in other cities, notably
Las Vegas,
Los Angeles, and
Orlando. During the
millennium celebrations in 1999,
Peter Jennings based ABC's operations in Times Square, hosting
ABC 2000 Today.Times Square today
The lights and advertising at the southern end of Times Square.
Traffic at Times Square.
Skyscrapers of Times Square.
The theaters of Broadway and the huge number of animated neon and LED signs have long made them one of New York's iconic images, and a symbol of the intensely urban aspects of Manhattan. Times Square is the only neighborhood with zoning ordinances requiring building owners to display illuminated signs. The density of illuminated signs in Times Square now rivals that of
Las Vegas. Officially, signs in Times Square are called "spectaculars", and the largest of them are called "jumbotrons."
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. Times Square now boasts attractions such as
ABC's
Times Square Studios, where
Good Morning America is broadcast live, an elaborate
Toys "Я" Us store, and competing
Hershey's and
M&M's stores across the street from each other, as well as restaurants such as Ruby Foo's (
Chinese food), the
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (
seafood), Planet Hollywood Restaurant and Bar (Theme Restaurant) and Carmine's (
Italian) along with a number of multiplex movie theaters. It has also attracted a number of 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.
Notable examples of the signage include the Toshiba billboard directly under the NYE ball drop and the curved seven-story
NASDAQ sign at the
NASDAQ MarketSite at
4 Times Square on 43rd Street and the curved
Coca-Cola sign located underneath another large LED display owned and operated by
Samsung. Both the Coca-Cola sign and Samsung LED displays were built by LED display manufacturer
Daktronics. The company is one of the world’s largest suppliers of large screen video displays and chances are you've seen a lot more of their work. Daktronics is recognized worldwide in its industry as the leading designer and manufacturer of electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems, and large screen video displays using light emitting diode (LED) technology.
In 2002, New York City's mayor,
Rudy Giuliani, gave the oath of office to the city's next mayor,
Michael Bloomberg, at Times Square after midnight on January 1 as part of the 2001–2002 New Year's celebration. Approximately 500,000 revelers attended. Security was high following the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with more than 7,000 New York City police on duty in the Square, twice the number for an ordinary year.
On the morning of March 6, 2008
a small bomb went off in the area by the military recruiting station, causing minor damage but no injures were reported.
Time Square's first environmentally friendly billboard powered by wind and solar energy was first lit on December 4 2008.
thumb|right|200px|Times Square PedestrianizedOn February 26, 2009, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg announced that traffic lanes along
Broadway from
42nd Street to 47th Street will be de-mapped starting Memorial Day 2009 and transformed into pedestrian plazas until at least the end of the year as a trial program. The same will be done from 33rd to 35th Street as well. The goal is to ease traffic congestion throughout the Midtown grid. The results will be closely monitored to determine if the project works and should be extended beyond its trial period." Bloomberg also stated " he believes the street shutdown will make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian accidents and helping traffic flow more smoothly."
Notable landmarks
Times Square is a busy intersection of art and commerce, where the chaos of hundreds of advertisements (signs and "newscrawlers") vie for viewers' attention. A few famous examples:
Corporate presence
The following companies have corporate presences in the area:
Major buildings on and near Times Square
- 11 Times Square (construction)
Times Square in popular culture
View of the northern part of Times Square, with the Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel (Two Times Square) in the center.
The Times Square neighborhood, notably its busiest intersection, has been featured countless times in literature, on television, in films, in music videos and recently in video games. An immediately recognizable setting, Times Square has been frequently attacked and destroyed in a number of movies, including
Deep Impact, when a tidal wave destroys Times Square, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, when robots broadcast a message. Films have also employed the opposite tactic, depicting the typically bustling area as eerily still, such as in Vanilla Sky,
as well as the post-apocalyptic I Am Legend,'' in which
Will Smith and his dog go hunting for deer in the deserted urban canyon.
See also
- Midtown Community Court, an innovative court that collaborates with the community to improve the quality of life in and around Times Square
- Naked Cowboy, New York City street performer and prominent fixture of Times Square
- Shibuya, a district of Tokyo that has been described in the New York Times as a 'futuristic Times Square'
