Times Square - wikipedia Times Square For other uses, see Times Square ( disambiguation ). Coordinates : 40 ° 45 ′ 28 '' N 73 ° 59 ′ 09 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 40.75773 ° N 73.985708 ° W ﻿ / 40.75773 ; - 73.985708 Times Square Neighborhood in Manhattan Broadway show billboards in Times Square, 2009 ( top ), 2013 ( bottom ) Nickname ( s ) : The Great White Way The Crossroads of the World State New York City New York City Borough Manhattan Boundaries Broadway, 7th Avenue, 42nd and 47th Streets Subway services 1, ​ 2, ​ 3 ​, 7, < 7 > ​ ​, ​ A ​, ​ C ​, ​ E ​, N, ​ Q, ​ R, ​ W ​, and S trains at Times Square -- 42nd Street station Bus routes M7, M20, M42, M50, M104 Historical features Duffy Square George Michael Cohan statue One Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center and neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It stretches from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. Brightly adorned with billboards and advertisements, Times Square is sometimes referred to 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 world 's busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District and a major center of the world 's entertainment industry. Times Square is one of the world 's most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days. Formerly known as Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the then newly erected Times Building -- now One Times Square -- the site of the annual New Year 's Eve ball drop which began on December 31, 1907, and continues today, attracting over a million visitors to Times Square every year. Times Square functions as a town square, but is not a square in the geometric sense of a polygon ; it is more of a bowtie shape, with two triangles emanating roughly north and south from 45th Street, where Seventh Avenue intersects Broadway. Broadway runs diagonally, crossing through the horizontal and vertical street grid of Manhattan laid down by the Commissioners ' Plan of 1811, and that intersection creates the `` bowtie '' shape of Times Square. The southern triangle of Times Square has no specific name, but the northern triangle is called Father Duffy Square. It was dedicated in 1937 to Chaplain Francis P. Duffy of New York City 's U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment and is the site of a memorial to him, along with a statue of George M. Cohan, as well as the TKTS reduced - price ticket booth run by the Theatre Development Fund. Since 2008, the booth has been backed by a red, sloped, triangular set of bleacher - like stairs, which is used by people to sit, talk, eat, and take photographs. Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history 1.2 1900s -- 1930s 1.3 1930s -- 1950s 1.4 1960s -- 1980s 1.5 1990s 1.6 2000s -- present 1.6. 1 Pedestrian plaza 2 Number of visitors 2.1 New Year 's Eve celebrations 3 Notable landmarks 4 In popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History Broadway at 42nd Street in 1898 A crowd outside The New York Times building follows the progress of the Jack Dempsey -- Georges Carpentier fight in 1921 Early History When Manhattan Island was first settled by the Dutch, three small streams united near what is now 10th Avenue and 40th street. These three streams formed the `` Great Kill '' ( Dutch : Grote Kill ). From there the Great Kill wound through the low - lying Reed Valley, known for fish and waterfowl and emptied into a deep bay in the Hudson River at the present 42nd Street. The name was retained in a tiny hamlet, Great Kill, that became a center for carriage - making, as the upland to the south and east became known as Longacre. Before and after the American Revolution, the area belonged to John Morin Scott, a general of the New York militia, in which he served under George Washington. Scott 's manor house was at what is currently 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. By 1872, the area had become the center of New York 's horse carriage industry. The locality had not previously been given a name, and city authorities called it Longacre Square after Long Acre in London, where the horse and carriage trade was centered in that city. William Henry Vanderbilt owned and ran the American Horse Exchange there. In 1910 it became the Winter Garden Theatre. As more profitable commerce and industrialization of lower Manhattan pushed homes, theaters, and prostitution northward from the Tenderloin District, Long Acre Square became nicknamed the Thieves Lair for its rollicking reputation as a low entertainment district. The first theater on the square, the Olympia, was built by cigar manufacturer and impresario Oscar Hammerstein I. `` By the early 1890s this once sparsely settled stretch of Broadway was ablaze with electric light and thronged by crowds of middle - and upper - class theatre, restaurant and cafe patrons. '' 1900s -- 1930s In 1904, New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved the newspaper 's operations to a new skyscraper on 42nd Street at Longacre Square, on the site of the former Pabst Hotel, which had existed on the site for less than a decade since it opened in November 1899. 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 north end later became Duffy Square, and the former Horse Exchange became the Winter Garden Theatre, constructed in 1911. The New York Times moved to more spacious offices one block west of the square in 1913 and sold the building in 1961. The old Times Building was later named the Allied Chemical Building in 1963. Now known simply as One Times Square, it is famed for the Times Square Ball drop on its roof every New Year 's Eve. 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. This was the first road across the United States, which originally spanned 3,389 miles ( 5,454 km ) coast - to - coast through 13 states to its western terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco, California. Times Square grew dramatically after World War I. It became a cultural hub full of theatres, music halls, and upscale hotels. Times Square quickly became New York 's agora, a place to gather to await great tidings and to celebrate them, whether a World Series or a presidential election. -- James Traub, The Devil 's Playground : A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square Advertising also grew significantly in the 1920s, growing from $25 million to $85 million over the decade. For example, the Wrigley Spearmint Gum sign, possibly the biggest electric sign `` in the world, '' cost $9,000 per month to rent. Some contemporary critics, such as Thorstein Veblen and G.K. Chesterton, disliked the advertising at Times Square. Fritz Lang, after seeing Times Square in 1923, used it as inspiration for his dark industrial film Metropolis. Entertainment icons such as Irving Berlin, Charlie Chaplin, and Fred Astaire were closely associated with Times Square in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s. However, it was also during this period that the area began to be 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. 1930s -- 1950s Crowds celebrating in Times Square on V-J Day ( August 15, 1945 ) The general atmosphere of Times Square changed with the onset of the Great Depression in the early 1930s. City residents moved uptown to cheaper neighborhoods, and many popular theaters closed, replaced by saloons, brothels, `` burlesque halls, vaudeville stages, and dime houses. '' The area acquired a reputation as a dangerous and seedy neighborhood in the following decades. Nevertheless, Times Square continued to be the site of the annual ball drop on New Year 's Eve. The ball drop was placed on hiatus for New Year 's Eve in 1942 and 1943 due to lighting restrictions during World War II. Instead, a moment of silence was observed at midnight in Times Square, accompanied by the sound of chimes played from sound trucks. On May 8, 1945, a massive crowd celebrated Victory in Europe Day in Times Square ; and on August 15, 1945, the largest crowd in the history of Times Square gathered to celebrate Victory over Japan Day. The victory itself was announced by a headline on the `` zipper '' news ticker at One Times Square, which read `` * * * OFFICIAL TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER * * * '', the six asterisks representing the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. 1960s -- 1980s From the 1960s to the early 1990s, the seediness of the area, especially due to its go - go bars, sex shops, peep shows and adult theaters, became an infamous symbol of the city 's decline. As early as 1960, 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue was described by The New York Times as `` the ' worst ' ( block ) in town ''. Later that decade, Times Square was depicted in Midnight Cowboy as gritty, dark and desperate, and it got worse in the 1970s and 1980s, as did the crime in the rest of the city. By 1984, an unprecedented 2,300 annual crimes occurred on that single block, of which 460 were serious felonies such as murder and rape. At the time, police morale was low and petty criminals who committed misdemeanors were not being arrested. William Bratton, who was appointed New York City Police Commissioner in 1994 and again in 2014, stated, `` The ( NYPD ) did n't want high performance ; it wanted to stay out of trouble, to avoid corruption scandals and conflicts in the community. For years, therefore, the key to career success in the NYPD, as in many bureaucratic leviathans, was to shun risk and avoid failure. Accordingly, cops became more cautious as they rose in rank, right up to the highest levels. '' The city government did not implement broken windows theory at first, and the allowance of low - profile crime was thought by some at the time to have caused more high - profile crimes to occur. Formerly elegant movie theaters began to show porn, and hustlers were common. The area was so abandoned at one point during the time that the entire Times Square area paid the city only $6 million in property taxes, which is less than what a medium - sized office building in Manhattan typically would produce in tax revenue today in 1984 dollars. In the 1980s, a commercial building boom began in the western parts of Midtown as part of a long - term development plan developed under Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins. Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and Ripley 's Believe It or Not ! Odditorium are two of the newer attractions on the redeveloped 42nd Street. 1990s In 1990, the State of New York took possession of six of the nine historic theatres on 42nd Street, and the New 42nd Street non-profit organization was appointed to oversee their restoration and maintenance. The theatres underwent renovation for Broadway shows, conversion for commercial purposes, or demolition. 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. In the mid-1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led an effort to clean up the area, an effort that is described by Steve Macek in Urban Nightmares : The Media, the Right, And the Moral Panic Over the City : Security was increased, pornographic theatres were closed, and `` undesirable '' low - rent residents were pressured to relocate, and then more tourist - friendly attractions and upscale establishments were opened. Advocates of the remodeling claim that the neighborhood is safer and cleaner. Detractors have countered that the changes have homogenized or `` Disneyfied '' the character of Times Square and have unfairly targeted lower - income New Yorkers from nearby neighborhoods such as Hell 's Kitchen. The changes were shaped in large part by the actions of The Walt Disney Company, which bought and restored the New Amsterdam Theatre 's after several attempts at redevelopment had fallen through. As part of a contract with Disney, officials from the city and state evicted the pornographic theaters and contracted with Madame Tussauds and AMC Theatres to move onto 42nd Street. This spurred the construction of new office towers, hotels, and tourist attractions in the area. Times Square now boasts attractions such as ABC 's Times Square Studios, where Good Morning America is broadcast live ; competing Hershey 's and M&M 's stores across the street from each other ; and multiple multiplex movie theaters. Additionally, the area contains restaurants such as Ruby Foo 's, a Chinese eatery ; the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a seafood establishment ; Planet Hollywood Restaurant and Bar, a theme restaurant ; and Carmine 's, serving Italian cuisine. 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. The theatres of Broadway and the huge number of animated neon and LED signs have been one of New York 's iconic images as well as a symbol of the intensely urban aspects of Manhattan. Such signage is mandated by zoning ordinances that require building owners to display illuminated signs, the only district in New York City with this requirement. The neighborhood actually has a minimum limit for lighting instead of the standard maximum limit. The density of illuminated signs in Times Square rivals that in Las Vegas. Officially, signs in Times Square are called `` spectaculars '', and the largest of them are called `` jumbotrons ''. This signage ordinance was implemented in accordance with guidelines set in a revitalization program that New York Governor Mario Cuomo implemented in 1993. The `` Naked Cowboy '' -- who is not actually naked -- has been a fixture on Times Square for decades. Notable signage includes the Toshiba billboard directly under the NYE ball drop, 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. Times Square 's first environmentally friendly billboard powered by wind and solar energy was first lit on December 4, 2008. On completion, the 20 Times Square development will host the largest LED signage in Times Square at 18,000 square feet. The display will be 1,000 square feet larger than the Times Square Walgreens display and one of the largest video - capable screens in the world. 2000s -- present Play media ( video ) Times Square at night, 2017 In 2002, New York City 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 terrorist attacks in 2001, with more than 7,000 New York City police officers on duty in the Square, twice the number for an ordinary year. Since 2002, the summer solstice has been marked by `` Mind over Madness '', a mass yoga event involving up to 15,000 people. Tim Tompkins, co-founder of the event, said part of its appeal was `` finding stillness and calm amid the city rush on the longest day of the year ''. Looking southeast at TKTS ticket booth on a sunny afternoon in Times Square Pedestrian plaza before reconstruction Pedestrian plaza after reconstruction On the morning of March 6, 2008, a small bomb caused minor damage, but there were no reported injuries. On May 1, 2010, Times Square was evacuated from 43rd to 46th Streets following the discovery of a car bomb. It was found to be a failed bombing. In February 2011, Times Square became smoke - free as New York extended the outdoors smoking ban to the area. The measure imposed a $50 fine for any person caught smoking within the area. From January 29 to February 1, 2014, a `` Super Bowl Boulevard '' was held on Broadway, especially in Times Square, between 34th and 47th Streets, as part of Super Bowl XLVIII. The boulevard contained activities such as autographs, a 60 feet ( 18 m ) - high toboggan run, and photographs with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The area was under increased security and saw over 400,000 people during the period. Pedestrian plaza On February 26, 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that traffic lanes along Broadway from 42nd Street to 47th Street would be de-mapped starting Memorial Day 2009 and transformed into pedestrian plazas as a trial until at least the end of the year. The same was done in Herald Square from 33rd to 35th Street. The goal was to ease traffic congestion throughout the midtown grid. The results were to be closely monitored to determine if the project was successful and should be extended. Bloomberg also stated that he believed the street shutdown would make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian - vehicle accidents and helping traffic flow more smoothly. The pedestrian plaza project was originally opposed by local businesses, who thought that closing the street to cars would hurt business. The original seats put out for pedestrians were inexpensive multicolored plastic lawn chairs, a source of amusement to many New Yorkers ; they lasted from the onset of the plaza transformation until August 14, 2009, when they were ceremoniously bundled together in an installation christened `` Now You See It, Now You Do n't '' by the artist Jason Peters, and shortly afterward were replaced by sturdier metal furniture. Although the plaza had mixed results on traffic in the area, injuries to motorists and pedestrians decreased, fewer pedestrians were walking in the road, and the number of pedestrians in Times Square increased. On February 11, 2010, Bloomberg announced that the pedestrian plazas would become permanent. The city started rebuilding the plaza in 2010, hiring the design and landscaping firm Snøhetta to permanently replace Broadway 's roadway with custom - made granite pavers and benches. By December 2013, the first phase of the Times Square pedestrian plaza had been completed at the southern end of the square in time for the Times Square Ball drop on New Year 's Eve. The project was originally intended to be completed by the end of 2015. The entire project was finally completed just before New Year 's Eve 2016. Some safety bollards were also installed as part of the renovation in order to prevent vehicular attacks or collisions on the sidewalk. After a car crash that killed one person and injured 22 others on May 18, 2017, there were calls to install more bollards along Times Square. Times Square 's pedestrian plaza is frequented by topless women called `` desnudas '', as well as costumed characters, who typically panhandle for tips. The pedestrian plaza became a source of controversy in the summer of 2015 because of a large number of complaints about the topless women and panhandling characters. Although neither of these activities was illegal, opponents believed that the panhandlers ' presence was detrimental to quality of life in the area. There were calls from Police Commissioner Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio to remove the plaza, although Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer opposed the proposal. In June 2016, work started on `` pedestrian flow zones '' where no one was allowed to loiter, as well as `` activity zones '' where costumed characters were allowed to perform. Number of visitors Times Square is the most visited place globally with 360,000 pedestrian visitors a day, amounting to over 131 million a year. As of 2013, it had a greater attendance than do each of the Disney theme parks worldwide, with 128,794,000 visitors between March 2012 and February 2013, versus 126,479,000 for the Walt Disney World theme parks in Bay Lake, Florida, in 2012. Even excluding residents from the visitor count, Times Square is the world 's second most visited tourist attraction, behind the Las Vegas Strip. The high level of pedestrian traffic has resulted in $4.8 billion in annual retail, entertainment and hotel sales, with 22 cents out of every dollar spent by visitors in New York City being spent within Times Square. New Year 's Eve celebrations See also : Times Square Ball The Times Square Ball in 2007 Times Square is the site of the annual New Year 's Eve ball drop. About one million revelers crowd Times Square for the New Year 's Eve celebrations, more than twice the usual number of visitors the area usually receives daily. 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. 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, marking the start of the new year. It replaced a lavish fireworks display from the top of the building that was held from 1904 to 1906, but stopped by city officials because of the danger of fire. 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. A new energy - efficient LED ball debuted for the arrival of 2008, which was the centennial of the Times Square ball drop. The 2008 / 2009 ball is larger and has become a permanent installation as a year - round attraction, being used for celebrations on days such as Valentine 's Day and Halloween. The New York City Department of Sanitation estimated that by 8 a.m. on New Year 's Day 2014, it had cleared over 50 tons of refuse from the New Year 's celebration, using 190 workers from their own crews and the Times Square Alliance. The Paramount Building at 1501 Broadway once housed the Paramount Theatre, where Frank Sinatra had bobby - soxers fainting in the aisles. One Astor Plaza ( 1515 Broadway ) is the headquarters of Viacom. It replaced the Astor Hotel in 1972, when Times Square `` redevelopment '' plans allowed oversized office towers if they included new theatres. Notable landmarks Times Square is a busy intersection of art and commerce, where scores of advertisements -- electric, neon and illuminated signs and `` zipper '' news crawls -- vie for viewers ' attention. Notable examples include ; Coca - Cola sign Disney Store Forever 21 ( formerly Virgin Megastores ) Hard Rock Cafe New York M&M 's World Planet Hollywood PlayStation Theater Times Square Studios ( used primarily for selected ABC News and ESPN programs, such as Good Morning America ) TKTS booth Major buildings on or near Times Square 1 Astor Plaza ( home of MTV 's New York studios ) 810 Seventh Avenue 1500 Broadway The Bowtie Building ( 1530 Broadway ) 1585 Broadway AXA Center Bank of America Tower Bertelsmann Building Brill Building Church of Saint Mary the Virgin The New York Times Building The Orion Paramount Theatre `` Numbered '' Times Square buildings One Times Square -- The former New York Times Tower ( 1904 ) 2 Times Square -- Renaissance Hotel Times Square ( 1992 ) 3 Times Square -- Thomson Reuters Building ( 1998 -- 2001 ) 4 Times Square -- Condé Nast Building ( 1996 -- 1999 ) 6 Times Square -- Knickerbocker Building ( 1906 ) 7 Times Square -- Times Square Tower ( 2002 -- 2007 ) 11 Times Square -- Times Square Plaza ( 2007 -- 2010 ) 20 Times Square -- 701 7th Ave ( and 47th St ) in development Hotels Hotel Carter Crowne Plaza Times Square Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel Edison Millennium Broadway New York Marriott Marquis Renaissance Hotel Times Square ( 2 Times Square ) Sheraton New York Times Square Edition W Times Square Corporate presence The following companies have corporate presences in the area : Bain & Company Barclays Capital ( formerly Lehman Brothers ) Bertelsmann BMO Capital Markets Condé Nast Publications Diamond Management & Technology Consultants Ernst & Young Instinet King & Spalding Morgan Stanley MTV Networks Nickelodeon The New York Times Company Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom O'Melveny & Myers Six Flags Inc. Thomson Reuters Viacom In Popular Culture An immediately recognizable location, Times Square has been featured countless times in literature, on television, in films, in video games, and in music videos. The seediness of the area was featured prominently in such films as Midnight Cowboy ( 1969 ) and Taxi Driver ( 1976 ). The area was shown in the 1980 film Times Square, which featured a punk rock / new wave soundtrack. It was also depicted in the 2011 movie New Year 's Eve. The area also appeared on The Amazing Race as one of the locations in a race around the world, notably in the first episode of the show 's 25th season. Times Square has been fictionally attacked and destroyed in a number of movies, including Knowing, when a solar flare destroys New York City ; Deep Impact, when a tsunami created from a meteor impact destroys New York City ; the 1998 film Godzilla, where Godzilla is chased through the square ; the Ghostbusters movies ; Stephen King 's The Stand, where the intersection is overcome by total anarchy ; the ending of Captain America : The First Avenger ; and Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen. It was also seen in the festival battle scene in the 2002 film Spider - Man, and a stand - off in the later film The Amazing Spider - Man 2. Films and TV shows 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. In the pilot episode of the TV series Blindspot, Times Square is completely emptied due to an abandoned bag being suspected to be a bomb. Times Square also has featured prominently in video games, such as Grand Theft Auto IV, in which a recreation of the Times Square area is included in the game 's fictional `` Liberty City '' setting ; Battlefield 3, where the final fight with the main antagonist takes place, where the player must stop him from detonating a nuclear bomb in the square ; and Crysis 2, in which player must fight off attacking alien forces in order to assist U.S. Marines in evacuating the area. View of the northern part of Times Square before reconstruction, with Two Times Square in the center See also New York City portal In the Times Square area Duffy Square, the northern section of Times Square between 45th and 47th Streets Good Riddance Day, an unofficial holiday celebrated at Times Square since 2007 Midtown Community Court, a branch of the New York City Criminal Court that primarily focuses on quality of life around Times Square Naked Cowboy, New York City street performer and prominent fixture of Times Square Theater District, Manhattan Times Square -- 42nd Street / Port Authority Bus Terminal subway station serving the 1, ​ 2, ​ 3 ​, 7, < 7 > ​ ​, ​ A ​, ​ C ​, ​ E ​, N, ​ Q, ​ R, ​ W ​, and S ( 42nd Street Shuttle ) trains Other L.A. Live, a public square in downtown Los Angeles Lincoln Highway, the terminus of which was in Times Square Piccadilly Circus, a commercialized road junction in London Yonge - Dundas Square, a public square in downtown Toronto References Notes Jump up ^ Rybczynski, Witold. City Life : Urban Expectations in a New World New York : Scribner, 1995. p. 27. ISBN 0 - 684 - 81302 - 5. Quote : ``... despite its name ( Times Square ) is really a street intersection, not a square. '' Jump up ^ Allan Tannenbaum. `` New York in the 70s : A Remembrance ''. © The Digital Journalist. Retrieved January 21, 2012. Jump up ^ Explore Manhattan Neighborhoods : The Center of the Universe ( aka Times Square ). Her Campus ( March 22, 2011 ). Retrieved on August 17, 2013. Jump up ^ Federal Writers ' Project ( author ). New York City : Vol 1, New York City Guide. Best Books ( 1939 ) ISBN 9781603540551 page 170 ( 1 ) Quote : `` The phrase ' Great White Way ' is supposed to have been coined in 1901 by O.J. Gude, an advertising man, who is said also to have been the first to see the tremendous possibilities of electric display. '' Jump up ^ Tell, Darcy. Times Square spectacular : lighting up Broadway New York : HarperCollins, 2007 Jump up ^ Allen, Irving Lewis. The City in Slang : New York Life and Popular Speech. New York : Oxford University Press, 1995. Quote : `` By 1910, the blocks of Broadway just above 42nd Street were at the very heart of the Great White Way. The glow of Times Square symbolized the center of New York, if not of the world. '' ^ Jump up to : Noah Remnick and Tatiana Schlossberg ( August 24, 2015 ). `` New York Today : Transforming Times Square ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 24, 2015. Jump up ^ `` The Most Jivin ' Streetscapes in the World ''. Luigi Di Serio. 2010. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Times Square ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 21, 2012. Jump up ^ `` New York Architecture Images - Midtown Times Square ''. 2011 nyc - architecture. Archived from the original on January 25, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2012. Jump up ^ Ann Shields ( November 10, 2014 ). `` The World 's 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions -- No. 3 : Times Square, New York City -- Annual Visitors : 50,000,000 ''. Travel + Leisure. Retrieved May 6, 2015. Jump up ^ Owen, David ( January 21, 2013 ). `` The Psychology of Space -- Can a Norwegian firm solve the problems of Times Square ? ''. The New Yorker. Retrieved February 18, 2013. Jump up ^ Hellman, Peter ( May 19, 1997 ). `` Bright Lights, Big Money ''. New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 30 ( 19 ) : 48. ISSN 0028 - 7369. Jump up ^ Times Square History, NYC Tourist. Accessed February 26, 2017. `` Times Square is a major commercial intersection in central Manhattan at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It acquired its name in 1904 when Albert Ochs, publisher of The New York Times, moved the newspaper 's headquarters to a new skyscraper on what was then known as Longacre Square. '' Jump up ^ Dunlap, David W. `` 1907 - 8 The Times Drops the Ball '', The New York Times, January 1, 2015. Accessed November 1, 2016. `` After two more years of pyrotechnics, The Times found a less flammable way to signal the moment of midnight : an iron - and - wood ball, five feet in diameter, on which 100 25 - watt bulbs were mounted. It was to be lowered down a flagstaff at midnight on Dec. 31, 1907. '' Jump up ^ `` Times Square is not a square, '' Urban Magazine ( May 9, 2011 ). Jump up ^ Dunlap, David W. `` COMMERCIAL PROPERTY : Times Square Novelty ; North of Duffy Sq., a Butler - on - Every - Floor Hotel '', The New York Times, June 10, 1990. Accessed February 26, 2017. `` With its hot nightclubs, dazzling signs and sprawling showrooms, the block at the northern end of the ' bowtie ' formed by Broadway and Seventh Avenue was always an important part of old Times Square. '' Jump up ^ `` Times Square '' New York City Geographic Information Service map Jump up ^ Harris, Stephen L. Duffy 's War : Fr. Francis Duffy, Wild Bill Donovan, and the Irish Fighting 69th in World War I, Potomac Books, 2006 Jump up ^ Gerard T. Koeppel, Water for Gotham : A History, 2001 : 10. Jump up ^ Sanderson, Edric W. Mannahatta : A Natural History of New York City, 2009 : Appendix A p 253 ; refs. G.E. Hill and G.E. Waring Jr, `` Old wells and water - courses on the isle of Manhattan '', in Historic New York, M.W. Goodwin, A.C. Royce, and R. Putnam, 1897 ; and others. Jump up ^ Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, Gotham : A History of New York City to 1898, 1999, p. 721. Jump up ^ Ulam, Alex ( June 2, 2008 ). `` John Jacob Astor : The making of a hardnosed speculator The Real Deal New York Real Estate News ''. The Real Deal. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ Kelly, Frank Bergen. Historical Guide to the City of New York New York : Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1909 Jump up ^ Stavrou, Gene. `` Where was the American Horse Exchange ? -- TreebaseNYC ''. www.treebase.com. Retrieved January 25, 2016. Jump up ^ Dunning, Jennifer. `` A Walking Tour of the Past and Present on Broadway '', The New York Times, July 13, 1979. Accessed November 1, 2016. `` The old stock and repertory company system made way for the Broadway hit and greater profits for the theater manager and owner, which, in turn, led to the rise of such theatrical entrepreneurs as Oscar Hammerstein, who struck out into the wilds of 44th and 45th Streets in 1895 to build his huge Olympia Theater in the ' Thieves Lair ' area of Broadway. '' Jump up ^ Burrows and Wallace 1999 : 1149. Jump up ^ Gray, Christopher. `` Streetscapes : A Small Hotel, a Mock Battleship and the Titanic '', The New York Times, December 1, 1996. Accessed November 1, 2016. `` Q The Pabst Hotel was on the site of the old New York Times Tower, at the northwest corner of 42d and Broadway. Was it owned and operated by Pabst Brewing ?... David Steigerwald, Fanwood, N.J.A Yes. The Pabst opened in November 1899, in the middle of the first wave of theater construction to arrive in the area, then known as Longacre Square. '' ^ Jump up to : Barron, James. `` 100 Years Ago, an Intersection 's New Name : Times Square '', The New York Times, April 8, 2004. Accessed May 26, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Times Square -- New York, New York -- Scenic at Night on ''. Waymarking.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ WINTER GARDEN, Theatre District, Forgotten New York, February 2, 2016. Accessed May 26, 2017. Jump up ^ Ennis, Thomas W. `` OLD TIMES TOWER TO GET NEW FACE ; 26 - Story Building Will Be Stripped and Recovered in Glass and Marble RESTAURANT IS PLANNED New Owner, Allied Chemical, Will Use Structure for Sales Headquarters 3 - Story Display Area Life Magazine to Use Sign '', The New York Times, April 17, 1963. Accessed November 1, 2016. Jump up ^ `` The Lincoln Highway Marker ''. Hmdb.org. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ Pollak, Michael. `` A Highway 's Starting Line, and a Flemish Firehouse '', The New York Times, July 8, 2016. Accessed November 1, 2016. `` The sign, which has been restored to the northeast corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, is quite authentic. It was placed there on Feb. 12, 2009, the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln 's birth, to mark the Lincoln Highway, which was created in 1913 and was the nation 's first coast - to - coast road. '' ^ Jump up to : Leach, William R. Land of Desire : Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture, p. 339, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011, ISBN 9780307761149. Accessed May 26, 2017. Jump up ^ Leach ( 1993 ), p. 340 Jump up ^ Leach ( 1993 ), p. 341 ^ Jump up to : Leach ( 1993 ), p. 345 Jump up ^ Leach ( 1993 ), p. 346 Jump up ^ `` Killer Cop : Charles Becker -- Crime Library on ''. Trutv.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ Macbeth, VR. `` The Great White Way. '' Archived May 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Timessquare.com. ( May 1, 2012 ). Jump up ^ http://www.timessquarenyc.org/visitor-tips/history/index.aspx Paragraphs 5 and onward, History of Times Square, Times Square District Management Association Jump up ^ `` V-E Day ''. Archived from the original on May 15, 2008. Retrieved May 9, 2016. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) University of San Diego, archived May 15, 2008 from http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/qt/v-eday.html Jump up ^ `` Victory Celebrations ''. Life. August 27, 1945. p. 21. Retrieved November 25, 2011. Jump up ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence ( December 11, 1994 ). `` Lights Out for Times Square News Sign ? ''. The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Times Square New York City ''. Streetdirectory.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ Milton Bracker, `` Life on W. 42nd St. a study in decay, '' New York Times, March 14, 1960, at 1, 26. Jump up ^ William J. Bratton and William Andrews, `` What we 've learned about policing, '' City Journal, Spring 1999, available at http://www.city-journal.org/html/9_2_what_weve_learned.html ( accessed February 3, 2009 ). Jump up ^ George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson, `` Broken Windows, '' The Atlantic, March 1982, available at https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198203/broken-windows ( accessed February 3, 2009 ). Jump up ^ Traub, James. The Devil 's Playground : A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square, New York : Random House, 2004. ISBN 0375759786. ^ Jump up to : David W. Dunlap ( January 7, 2015 ). `` With a Friendlier 42nd Street, Mario Cuomo Left His Mark on Times Square ''. The New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2015. Jump up ^ Times Square Alliance Tourist information center in former Embassy Theater Jump up ^ Macek, Steve ( 2006 ). Urban Nightmares : The Media, the Right, And the Moral Panic Over the City. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press. p. 111. ISBN 9780816643608. Jump up ^ Rofes, Eric E. ( 2001 ). `` Imperial New York : Destruction and Disneyfication under Emperor Giuliani. Review of Times Square Red, Times Square Blue. Samuel R. Delany. New York : New York University Press, 1999 ''. GLQ : A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 7 ( 1 ) : 101 -- 09. doi : 10.1215 / 10642684 - 7 - 1 - 101. Jump up ^ Bagli, Charles V. ; Kennedy, Randy ( April 5, 1998 ). `` Disney Wished Upon Times Sq. And Rescued a Stalled Dream ''. The New York Times. ISSN 0362 - 4331. Retrieved May 15, 2017. Jump up ^ Oser, Alan S. ( December 14, 1986 ). `` Great White Way ; Planning for a Brighter Times Sq ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Architect Robert A.M. Stern : Presence of the Past '' ( PBS video ) on the Arch Daily website Jump up ^ Collins, Glenn ( November 14, 2008 ). `` In Times Square, a Company 's Name in ( Wind - and Solar - Powered ) Lights ''. New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2009. Jump up ^ Barbarino, Al. `` Ian Schrager Taps CBRE for 20 Times Square Retail ''. Commercial Observer. ( May 21, 2014 ) Jump up ^ Collins, Glenn ( May 24, 2008 ). `` How to Stand Out in Times Square ? Build a Bigger and Brighter Billboard ''. New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2013. ( May 24, 2008 ) Jump up ^ `` Inaugural Address Of Mayor Michael Bloomberg ''. Gothamgazette.com. January 1, 2002. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Times Square takes yoga time - out on summer solstice at BBC News ''. BBC News. June 21, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Solstice in Times Square : Athleta Mind Over Madness Yoga ''. Retrieved October 4, 2014. Jump up ^ BBC News March 6, 2008 Jump up ^ Baker, Al ; Rashbaum, William K. ( May 1, 2010 ). `` Police Find Car Bomb in Times Square ''. The New York Times. Jump up ^ Pilkington, Ed ( February 3, 2011 ). `` Times Square becomes smoke free as New York extends ban outdoors ''. Guardian. London. Retrieved February 3, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Times Square Alliance : Super Bowl Boulevard ''. Times Square Alliance. Retrieved January 28, 2014. Jump up ^. `` Finishing Touches Being Put on Super Bowl Boulevard ''. NY1. Retrieved January 28, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Super Bowl Blvd. starting to take shape -- New York News ''. Myfoxny.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014. Jump up ^ Celona, Larry ( January 27, 2014 ). `` NYPD plans high security on Super Bowl Boulevard New York Post ''. Nypost.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014. Jump up ^ Seifman, David ( February 26, 2009 ). `` Broadway Cars Can Take A Walk ''. New York Post. Retrieved August 22, 2009. Jump up ^ Vanderford, Richard ; Goldsmith, Samuel ( May 25, 2009 ). `` Walk, bike or sit, car - free, in Times Square and Herald Square ''. New York Daily News. Retrieved August 22, 2009. Jump up ^ Citing `` Livability and Mobility, '' Bloomberg Declares Broadway Plazas a Success -- Next City. Americancity.org. Retrieved on August 17, 2013. Jump up ^ Noel Y.C. ( August 16, 2009 ). `` NYC ♥ NYC : Jason Peters ' NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON 'T -- Lawn Chair Sculpture ''. Nyclovesnyc.blogspot.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010... See also : Media : NowYouSeeIt - TimesSq2009. JPG. Jump up ^ Nyc Dot. Nyc.gov. Retrieved on August 17, 2013. Jump up ^ ( March 30, 2010 ). `` Pedestrian Plaza To Remain Permanent Fixture Of Times Square ''. NY1.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Times Square Reconstruction ''. Snøhetta. Retrieved December 29, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Snohetta Makes Times Square Permanently Pedestrian ''. ArchDaily. January 9, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2016. Jump up ^ Evans, Dave ( December 28, 2016 ). `` Times Square reconstruction finished just before New Year 's Eve ''. ABC7 New York. Retrieved December 29, 2016. Jump up ^ Blumenthal, Eli ( May 18, 2017 ). `` What stopped the car in Times Square ? A closer look at bollards ''. USA TODAY. Retrieved May 20, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Times Square mayhem raises question about recent redesign ''. Reuters. May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2017. Jump up ^ Blitzer, Jonathan ( June 26, 2014 ). `` Being a Times Square Elmo ''. The New Yorker. Retrieved May 15, 2017. Jump up ^ Dunlap, David W. ( August 23, 2015 ). `` Debating Value of Pedestrian Plazas Beyond New York City ''. The New York Times. Retrieved August 24, 2015. ^ Jump up to : Barkan, Ross ( August 24, 2015 ). `` Manhattan Beep Calls Plan to Tear Up Times Square Pedestrian Plaza ' Preposterous ' ''. Observer. Retrieved August 24, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Elvis, Elmo Bummed by City 's New Times Square Flow Zones ''. NBC New York. Retrieved February 17, 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Times Square Pedestrian Counts, Times Square Alliance ''. Retrieved October 4, 2014. Jump up ^ Global Attractions Attendance Report, TEA / AECOM, Published June 10, 2013. Jump up ^ `` The World 's 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions ''. The Huffington Post. February 26, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Times Square Economic Impact Update, Times Square Alliance / HRA, March 2012 Jump up ^ New York City Tourism : A Model for Success, NYC and Company, 2013 Jump up ^ `` Times Square Alliance -- New Year 's Eve ''. Timessquarenyc.org. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ www.nyctourist.com. `` Times Square New York City, New York City Times Square by NYCTourist.com ''. Timessquare.nyctourist.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Times Square Alliance -- New Year 's Eve -- About The Ball ''. Timessquarenyc.org. November 11, 2008. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Crews Clean Up Times Square After New Year 's Celebration ''. CBS Local. CBS New York. January 1, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014. Jump up ^ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot ( 2000 ), AIA Guide to New York City ( 4th ed. ), New York : Three Rivers Press, ISBN 978 - 0 - 8129 - 3107 - 5 Jump up ^ `` The Reuters Building ''. Wirednewyork.com. Retrieved April 21, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Midnight Cowboy Film Locations -- On the set of New York.com ''. onthesetofnewyork.com. Retrieved February 14, 2015. Jump up ^ Nigro, Carmen. `` The Changing Face of Times Square, '' New York Public Library : Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy ( January 12, 2015 ). Jump up ^ Times Square, Roger Ebert, November 17, 1980. Accessed October 5, 2016. `` The story involves two teen - age runaway girls, an all - night disk jockey and the inhabitants of the Times Square jungle of New York. '' Jump up ^ New Year 's Eve, Roger Ebert, December 7, 2011. Accessed October 5, 2016. `` What sins did poor Hilary Swank commit, that after winning two Oscars, she has to play the role of the woman in charge of the New Year 's Eve ball in Times Square ? '' Jump up ^ `` Season 25 : Episode 1 -- Go Big Or Go Home '', CBS. Accessed October 5, 2016. `` Bethesda Fountain in the heart of New York City 's Central Park was the backdrop as Phil announced that this was where the Amazing Race first started twenty - five seasons ago. The teams arrived in Times Square, exiting taxis while fans and former racers alike thronged the streets. '' ^ Jump up to : Knight, Gladys L. Pop Culture Places : An Encyclopedia of Places in American Popular Culture, p. 870. Accessed October 5, 2016. `` In Knowing ( 2009 ), the area is one of several iconic places ravaged by a solar flare. '' Jump up ^ Bettinger, Brendan. `` Captain America : The First Avenger Films in Times Square with Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson '', Collider.com, April 24, 2011. Accessed November 1, 2016. `` Captain America : The First Avenger is scheduled for release on July 22 -- I am amazed at just how much studios can work up to the deadline. Just yesterday, less than three months before release, director Joe Johnston shot another scene featuring Chris Evans as the titular superhero and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Times Square. '' Jump up ^ Giardina, Carolyn. `` Amazing Spider - Man 2 : An Exclusive Look at the Times Square Battle ( Photos ) '', The Hollywood Reporter, May 2, 2014. Accessed October 5, 2016. `` Some of the most complicated visual effects work in Sony 's The Amazing Spider - Man 2 can be seen in the action sequence set in Times Square, according to the film 's VFX supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks. ' Jerome Chen. '' Jump up ^ Vanilla Sky -- Entertainment Tonight, The Uncool. Accessed October 5, 2016. `` New York has never shut down Times Square for anything, much less a film crew... But with the help of the New York Mayor 's office, the city 's film commission and the New York police Department, the Vanilla Sky crew actually pulled off a total Times Square closure, arranging to clear the entire area for 90 minutes on a Sunday morning in November of 2000. '' Jump up ^ Raferty, Liz. `` How the Creators of Blindspot ' Shut Down Times Square ' for That Crazy Opening Scene '', TV Guide, September 21, 2015. Accessed October 5. 2016. `` Fast - forward five years, and Gero 's vision has come to life in the form of Blindspot, NBC 's new drama about a Jane Doe ( Jaimie Alexander ) who 's discovered in a duffel bag in the middle of an evacuated Times Square, covered in tattoos and with no memory of how she got there, who she is, or what 's going on in the world around her. '' Jump up ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQSq4SkN47k Crysis 2 -- Mission 14 Power Out Jump up ^ Father Duffy Square, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed January 10, 2017. `` Dominated in 1909 by a temporary eight - ton, fifty - foot statue by Leo Lentelli entitled Purity ( Defeat of Slander ), today this square -- so central to the theater district -- is defined by statues of George M. Cohan and Father Duffy, as well as a large public viewing grandstand along the north side. '' Jump up ^ Good Riddance Day, Times Square Alliance. Accessed January 10, 2017. `` Good Riddance Day is inspired by a Latin American tradition in which New Year 's revelers stuffed dolls with objects representing bad memories before setting them on fire. '' Jump up ^ Midtown Community Court, Center for Court Innovation. Accessed January 10, 2017. Jump up ^ Cowan, Alison Leigh. `` Naked Cowboy Drops Out : No Singing Mayor in Briefs '', The New York Times, September 4, 2009. Accessed January 10, 2017. `` Running for mayor of New York City must have struck Robert Burck, the so - called Naked Cowboy of Times Square, as a good idea back in July. '' Jump up ^ Theater District, NYC.com. Accessed January 10, 2017. Bibliography Brown, H. ( 1922 ) Valentine 's Manual of Old New York. Valentine. Fazio, W. ( 2000 ) Times Square, Children 's Press. ISBN 0 - 516 - 26530 - X Friedman, J. ( 1993 ) Tales of Times Square Feral House. ISBN 0 - 922915 - 17 - 2 Leach, William ( 1993 ). Land of Desire. New York : Pantheon Books. ISBN 0307761142. NYC-Architecture.com Taylor, W. ( 1996 ) Inventing Times Square, Johns Hopkins U. Press. ISBN 0 - 8018 - 5337 - 0 Traub, James ( 2004 ) The Devil 's Playground : A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square New York : Random House. ISBN 0 - 375 - 50788 - 4 External links Find more aboutTimes Squareat Wikipedia 's sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Wikimedia Commons News from Wikinews Travel guide from Wikivoyage Data from Wikidata Times Square live camera Times Square more webcams The Times Square Alliance and Events Listing Times Square 360 panorama `` The Changing Face of Times Square '' at the New York Public Library website Times Square Arts Center NYC-Architecture.com New York City Tourist Articles and topics related to Times Square Streets of Manhattan Commissioners ' Plan of 1811 List of eponymous streets in New York City North -- South East Side FDR Dr Ave D Ave C ( Loisaida Ave ) Ave B / East End Ave Ave A / York Ave / Sutton Pl / Pleasant Ave Asser Levy Pl / Beekman Pl 1st Ave 2nd Ave Shevchenko Pl 3rd Ave Irving Pl / Lexington Ave Park Ave Tunnel Viaduct 4th Ave / Park Ave S Broadway Vanderbilt Ave Madison Ave 5th Ave / Museum Mile West Side 5th Ave / Museum Mile Rockefeller Plz 6th Ave / Ave of the Americas / Lenox Ave / Malcolm X Blvd / East Dr 61⁄2 Ave Center Dr 7th Ave / Fashion Ave / Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd / West Dr / Shubert Alley 8th Ave / Central Park W / Douglas Blvd 9th Ave / Columbus Ave / Morningside Dr Dyer Ave / Lincoln Tunnel Expwy 10th Ave / Amsterdam Ave Broadway Hudson Blvd 11th Ave / West End Ave Riverside Dr 12th Ave 13th Ave Audubon Ave St. Nicholas Ave / Duarte Blvd Claremont Ave Ft. Washington Ave Cabrini Blvd Sylvan Pl Lower East Side Allen / Pike Baxter / Centre Market Pl Bowery Centre Division Chrystie Coenties Slip Eldridge Street Elizabeth Essex Forsyth Lafayette Doyers Rivington Ludlow Mott Mulberry Orchard Park Row Spring University Pl Lower West Side Church / Trinity Pl Greenwich Hudson Jones Macdougal Patchin Pl Sullivan Gay Thompson Varick Washington W Broadway / LaGuardia Pl Weehawken West Bank East -- West Downtown Roosevelt Chambers E Broadway Henry Madison Cherry Worth N Moore Beach Broome Canal Hester Grand Delancey Stanton Houston Vandam 1st -- 14th Bleecker Bond Great Jones 4th Waverly Pl / Washington Square N Astor Pl / Washington Mews / Stuyvesant / Macdougal Aly 8th / St. Mark 's Pl / Greenwich Ave Christopher Charles 14th Midtown 15th -- 59th 23rd 34th 42nd 45th / George Abbott Way 47th 50th 51st 52nd / Swing Alley / St of Jazz 53rd 54th 55th 57th 59th / Central Park S Uptown 60th -- 215th 66th / Peter Jennings Way 72nd 74th 79th 85th 86th 89th 93rd 95th 96th 110th / Cathedral Pkwy / Central Park N 112th 116th 120th 122nd / Mother Hale Way / Seminary Row 125th / Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd 130th / Astor Row 132nd 135th 139th / Strivers ' Row 145th 155th 181st 187th Bogardus Pl Dyckman Plaza Lafayette Intersections Circles Columbus Duke Ellington Frederick Douglass Squares Chatham Cooper Duarte Duffy Foley Gramercy Grand Army Hanover Herald Hudson Jackson Lincoln Madison Mulry Pershing Petrosino Sherman Stuyvesant Times Tompkins Union Verdi Washington Zuccotti Financial District Nassau Gold William Broad South Whitehall Bridge Brewers / Stone State Pearl Marketfield Wall Albany Liberty Cortlandt Maiden Dey Fulton Vesey / Ann Theatre Alley Italics indicate streets no longer in existence. All entries are streets unless otherwise noted See also : Manhattan address algorithm Structures on Broadway in Manhattan 1 - 599 ( Battery Pl. - W. Houston St. ) 1 Broadway 2 Broadway Bowling Green 26 Broadway ( previously occupied by Lautman 's Dairy ) Cunard Building 52 Broadway Adams Express Building 65 Broadway 1 Wall Street AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company Trinity Church Equitable Building Equitable Life Building Marine Midland Building Zuccotti Park One Liberty Plaza Fulton Center Corbin Building American Surety Building 195 Broadway Astor House Woolworth Building City Hall Park New York City Hall Broadway -- Chambers Building 280 Broadway 287 Broadway Ted Weiss Federal Building 291 Broadway Mutual Reserve Building 319 Broadway Appleton Building 359 Broadway 361 Broadway ( James S. White Building ) 462 Broadway Mechanics ' Hall E.V. Haughwout Building New Era Building Scholastic Building Singer Building 600 - 1499 ( W. Houston St. - Times Sq. ) Cable Building Canterbury Hall Grace Church Church of the Messiah Grand Central Hotel 770 Broadway Strand Bookstore Tisch School of the Arts Grace Church Union Square Flatiron Building Madison Square Baudouine Building Gilsey House Grand Hotel Radisson Hotel Martinique Hotel McAlpin Herald Square Haier Building Knickerbocker Theatre Marbridge Building Metropolitan Opera House ( former ) Rialto Theatre Times Square One Times Square ( previously occupied by Pabst Hotel ) Condé Nast Building The Knickerbocker Hotel 1500 - 1800 ( Times Sq. - Columbus Cir. ) 1500 Broadway ( previously occupied by Hotel Claridge ) 1501 Broadway One Astor Plaza Astor Theatre Minskoff Theatre New York Marriott Marquis Morgan Stanley Building Palace Theatre Brill Building Winter Garden Theatre Central Theatre Capitol Theatre Ellen 's Stardust Diner Paramount Plaza Studebaker Building Broadway Theatre Ed Sullivan Theater 1717 Broadway 1740 Broadway Random House Tower Columbus Circle North of Columbus Cir. Museum of Biblical Art Dauphin Hotel Beacon Theatre The Apthorp Bretton Hall Goddard Institute for Space Studies Barnard College Audubon Ballroom United Palace Dyckman House Church of the Good Shepherd Popular visitor attractions in New York City More than 10 million annual visitors Times Square ( 50 M ) Central Park ( 40 M ) Grand Central Terminal ( 21.6 M ) South Street Seaport ( 12 M ) Rockefeller Center 1 to 10 million annual visitors High Line ( 7.6 M ) Metropolitan Museum of Art ( 6.3 M ) American Museum of Natural History ( 5.0 M ) National September 11 Memorial & Museum ( 5.0 M ) Empire State Building ( 3.5 M ) Museum of Modern Art ( 2.8 M ) Statue of Liberty ( 2.4 M ) One World Trade Center ( 2.3 M ) Bronx Zoo ( 1.8 M ) Ellis Island ( 1.7 M ) Note : Visitor numbers are estimates only. See also : Tourism in New York City Neighborhoods in the New York City borough of Manhattan Lower Manhattan below 14th St ( CB 1, 2, 3 ) Alphabet City Battery Park City Bowery Chinatown Civic Center Cooperative Village East Village Essex Crossing Financial District Five Points Greenwich Village Hudson Square Little Fuzhou Little Germany Little Italy Little Syria Lower East Side Meatpacking District NoHo Nolita Radio Row SoHo South Street Seaport South Village Tribeca Two Bridges West Village World Trade Center Midtown ( CB 5 ) Columbus Circle Diamond District Flatiron District Garment District Herald Square Koreatown Madison Square NoMad Silicon Alley Theater District Times Square West Side ( CB 4, 7 ) Chelsea Hell 's Kitchen Hudson Yards Lincoln Square Little Spain Manhattan Valley Manhattantown Penn South Pomander Walk Riverside South Tenderloin Upper West Side East Side ( CB 6, 8 ) Carnegie Hill Gashouse District Gramercy Park Kips Bay Lenox Hill Murray Hill Peter Cooper Village Rose Hill Stuyvesant Square Stuyvesant Town Sutton Place Tudor City Turtle Bay Union Square Upper East Side Waterside Plaza Yorkville Upper Manhattan above 110th St ( CB 9, 10, 11, 12 ) Astor Row East Harlem Hamilton Heights Harlem Hudson Heights Inwood Le Petit Senegal Manhattanville Marble Hill ( Bx CB 8 ) Marcus Garvey Park Morningside Heights Sugar Hill Sylvan Washington Heights Islands Ellis Island ( CB 1 ) Governors Island ( CB 1 ) Liberty Island ( CB 1 ) Randalls Island ( CB 11 ) Roosevelt Island ( CB 8 ) Wards Island ( CB 11 ) Former Seneca Village Community boards : 1 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 VIAF : 3146708162600842281 GND : 4295532 - 4 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Times_Square&oldid=836190740 '' Categories : Times Square Road junctions in the United States Theater District, Manhattan Tourist attractions in Manhattan Lincoln Highway Squares in New York City Symbols of New York City Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown Use mdy dates from August 2017 Coordinates on Wikidata Pages using New York City Subway service templates Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2013 All articles containing potentially dated statements Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca বাংলা Беларуская Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Kurdî Latina Latviešu Magyar Македонски मराठी Bahasa Melayu မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Occitan پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Scots Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Vepsän kel ' Tiếng Việt 中文 47 more Edit links This page was last edited on 13 April 2018, at 06 : 44. 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Question: what was the original name for times square in new york city
Answer: Longacre Square