The bow-tie of light where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue, brighter at midnight than most cities are at noon.
At a glance
Times Square is the great commercial crossing of Midtown Manhattan, where Broadway cuts diagonally across Seventh Avenue. It is defined by its wall of illuminated billboards, its theatres, and the crowds that never quite leave it.
History
The square took its name in 1904, when The New York Times moved its headquarters to the tower at its southern end, One Times Square. From 1907 the building has staged the New Year’s Eve ball drop, watched now by the world. Long faded and then rebuilt, the district was pedestrianised in part from 2009, giving the crowds room to stand still.
What you see
The signature is the light: enormous LED screens climb the buildings on every side, lit day and night, so that even the shadows are coloured. Around them run the Broadway theatres, the ticket booths and the plazas where visitors gather to look up.
Significance
Few places are so purely themselves. Times Square is not a monument but a condition — commerce, theatre and spectacle compressed into a single crossing that has come to stand, worldwide, for New York at full volume.
Practical information
- Open and free at all hours; brightest and busiest after dark
- Heart of the Broadway theatre district; the TKTS booth sells same-day tickets
- Keep valuables close in the crowds
Getting there
Times Square–42nd Street is one of the largest subway hubs in the city, served by many lines. It is a short walk from Bryant Park, the Empire State Building and the theatre district.
Gallery
Times Square, photographed by Luigi De Marchi.
Sources
- Times Square Alliance (timessquarenyc.org)
- NYC Tourism (nyctourism.com)
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