Times Square is a major commercial and tourist hub and an entertainment and a neighborhood in the middle of Manhattan located in New York City. It is comprised of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Along with Duffy Square, Times Square is a bowtie-shaped area 5 blocks in length, between 47th and 42nd Streets.
Billboards and ads brightly light the area. The area is sometimes known as “the Crossroads of the World,” “the Center of the Universe,” “the heart of the Great White Way,” and “the heart of the world.” One of the most crowded pedestrian zones, it’s an important hub for The Broadway Theater District and a significant center of the global entertainment business. Times Square is one of the most frequented tourist attractions, with around 50 million people each year. About 330,000 people traverse Times Square daily; many tourists and over 460,000 pedestrians stroll around it on its busiest days.
Previously named Longacre Square, Times Square was named in 1904 when The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly built Times Building, now One Times Square. It is also the location of The annual New Year’s Eve ball drop, which started on the 31st of December 1907 and drew more than 1 million people to Times Square every year. Times Square, specifically the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, is also the eastern end of the Lincoln Highway, the first highway that ran across the United States.
The year 2002 was when New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani administered the oath of the city’s next mayor Michael Bloomberg, at Times Square at midnight on January 1st as part of the New Year’s Eve 2001-02 celebration. About 500,000 revelers took part. Security was high after the September 11 terror attacks in 2001. More than 7000 New York City police officers worked in the Square, nearly double the number in an average year. H&A Power Washing NYC
Times Square started hosting other significant annual events during the late 2000s. In 2002, the solstice was marked by “Mind over Madness,” an event that involved more than 15,000 participants. Tim Tompkins, a co-founder of the event, stated that one of the reasons for its popularity consisted in “finding stillness and calm amid the city rush on the longest day of the year.” The architect Mark Foster Gage proposed and created the first Times Square Valentine’s Day heart in 2009. Since then, they were designing the spirit has evolved into an annual event.
Landmarks
Times Square is a busy intersection of commerce and art. A variety of advertising, including neon, electric, and illuminated signs and “zipper” news crawls – compete for public attention. Notable examples include:
- Coca-Cola sign
- Disney Store
- Fashion One
- Forever 21 (formerly Virgin Megastores)
- Hard Rock Cafe New York
Nearby Attractions
- Waterfalls Central Park is located in Hallett Nature Sanctuary, 6th Avenue & Central Park S, New York City, NY.
- Empire State Building can be found at 20 West 34th St, New York, NY.
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