Times Square New York City

Times Square 42nd Street – Must See Tourist Attractions in New York City

Times Square Cross Roads of the World.. Top Attractions in NYC, New York, USA

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Times Square

New York Times Square

Times Square is a major intersection in Manhattan, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. Times Square consists of the blocks between Sixth and Ninth Avenues from east to west, and West 39th and West 52nd Streets from south to north (40.75659° N 73.98626° W), making up the western part of the commercial area of Midtown Manhattan.

Like Red Square in Moscow, Champs-Elysées in Paris, Trafalgar Square in London, or Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Times Square has achieved the status of an iconic world landmark and has become a symbol of its home city. Times Square is principally defined by its lighted and animated advertisements.

History

In the early 1900s The New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved the paper’s operations to a new tower, now called One Times Square, on 42nd Street in the middle of the area known as Longacre Square. Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. to build a subway station there and rename it Times Square. On April 8, 1904, officiated by Mayor McClellan, it was renamed. Just three weeks later, the first advertisement appeared on the side of a bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway. The Times moved out of the tower in 1913, although it remains in the neighborhood. Later it was the Allied Chemical Building and is now known as One Times Square

The atmosphere changed with the onset of the Great Depression during the 1930s. In the decades afterwards, it was considered a dangerous neighborhood. The seediness of Times Square was a famous symbol of New York City’s danger and corruption from the 1960s until the early 1990s. In the 1980s, a commercial building boom began in the West 40s and 50s as part of a long-term development plan conceived under Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins. Then, in the mid-1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (1994-2002) led an intense effort to “clean up” the area, increasing security, driving out the “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 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. The New 42nd Street nonprofit organization was appointed to oversee their restoration and care. The theatres were variously renovated for Broadway shows, converted for commercial purposes, or demolished.

Legendary Times Square, the heart of Broadway and of countless huge New York gatherings, recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary.
Filled with its neon signs, screaming ads, giant screens, Times Square is aptly named “the crossroads of the world“.

The world gathers on New years Eve here for the famous ball-dropping ceremony to usher in the New Year.

The main attractions in Times Square include ABC’s Good Morning America Studios where you can be part of the show every morning starting at 7am, Toys’r’us with a life-like animatronic T-Rex and a giant ferris wheel and MTV’s TRL Studios.
WWE Store where many WWE superstars used to make both scheduled and surprise appearances has closed shop.

Other attractions within blocks from Times Square include Madame Tussaud’s Wax museum, Ed Sullivan theatre where Late Show with David Letterman tapes every weekday afternoon, [See who is appearing today] Rockefeller Center and NBC Studios, Disney store and Broadway.

Stop by the Times Square Visitors Center (1560 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 – see it on the map below) where you can get free citywide information from multilingual tourist counselors, get free maps and brochures, purchase discount tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows from the Broadway Ticket Center & more.