Times Square, was named after the one-time headquarters of The New York Times in
1904, previously it had been known as Longacre Square. It centres on 42nd Street
and Broadway. It consists of the blocks between 6th and 9th Avenue from east to west
and 39th and 52nd Streets from south to north. At the start of World War I, Times
square was the centre of the Theatre district and attracted a large number of visitors.
This made the square an ideal place for billboards. In 1917 the first large electric
display billboard was installed. 11 Years later, the first running electric sign
was let for the first time, to announce Herbert Hoover's victory in the Presidential
elections. The billboards have become such a tourist attraction for the area, that
the zoning now requires the buildings to be covered with billboards. Find your self
in the heart of the 'Big Apple' nearby to the most popular tourist attractions with
accommodation in downtown NY.
With the thirties came the Great Depression. Times Square initially seemed immune
from the troubles. People were drawn to the playhouses in an attempt to escape from
the grim realities of life, but as the depression grew deeper, the fortunes of the
theatre owners plummeted, and many were forced to sell or close their theatres. The
theatres that remained, converted to showing popular but vastly cheaper shows. The
area continued to attract visitors and after World War II, the theatre district was
booming again. At the end of the sixties, the area started to go downhill and by
the mid-seventies, tourists were avoiding Times Square as it had become a seedy,
crime-ridden and drug-infested area. Times Square had become a symbol of all that
was considered bad in New York at that time.
In the mid 1990's, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led the effort to clean up the area, including
closing down sex shops, increasing security, and opening more tourist-friendly attractions.
The clean-up process began when the local government issued injunctions against the
tight cluster of porn shops in the 42nd Street area. Many of the sex shops closed
or moved to industrial areas in Brooklyn or Queens. More recently, such establishments
have been shut down and more up-market establishments have replaced them.
The tourists have returned in abundance mostly due to what is sometimes referred
to as the Disneyfication of Times Square. Walking down Broadway you can stop to shop
at a Toy's R Us store while on your way to 42nd Street to watch a matinee of Disney's
latest film. A far cry from the area's squalid years but entirely within the tradition
of entertainment and commerce, and giving the public what they want.
