page_title: TKTS
section_title: Pavilion
hierarchical_section_title: TKTS / New York City / Main location / Pavilion
caption_attribution_description: English: Times Square in NYC as seen from top step of bleacher steps on rear of TKTS booth.
context_page_description: The TKTS ticket booths in New York City and London sell Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, music, and dance events and West End theatre tickets, respectively, at discounts of 20–50% off the face value.
context_section_description: The original TKTS pavilion in Times Square was designed by the Manhattan architecture firm of Mayers & Schiff Associates and was inaugurated by Mayor John Lindsay. The city had a capital budget of $5,000 to build the pavilion, a sum that was obviously insufficient.  But the city did have an "operating" budget, which the architects used in a plan based on renting, rather than buying, the pavilion's parts.  The sales booth was housed in a rented construction trailer; the armature around and on top of the trailer was made from rented scaffolding parts.  Interwoven through the armature was a continuous white canvas ribbon emblazoned with the "TKTS" logo.  Foundations could not be dug under the booth because the subway structure is just below ground level.  To hold down this giant "wind kite" the architects utilized pile driving test weights (also rented).  The pavilion received many design awards, including the American Institute of Graphic Arts' Excellence in Communications Graphics; The City Club of New York's Albert S. Bard Award for Architecture and Urban Design; and the N.Y. State Association of Architects Certificate of Merit for Design Excellence.
  James Gatens ran the TKTS booth. Originally signing up for a 6 month job he ended up running it for 30 years until his retirement in 2003.   
  The new TKTS Booth and the redevelopment of Father Duffy Square was completed as a partnership between Theatre Development Fund, Times Square Alliance, and Father Duffy Coalition. The project began in 1999 with an international design competition sponsored the Van Alen Institute to re-design the popular TKTS Discount Booth. The competition’s winner, Australian firm Choi Ropiha, reframed the challenge as a broader urban design response to invigorate and provide a center for Times Square. In 2001 Theatre Development Fund commissioned a feasibility study. New York City-based Perkins Eastman developed several approaches, and from those a final design, informed and inspired by the original concept, employed glass as the sole structural component for the steps and the TKTS Booth itself would be a free-standing structure within the glass enclosure. Completing the transformation of Father Duffy Square was the work of the plaza’s architect, William Fellows of William Fellows Architects (and now with PKSB Architects). The transformation of the square allows for increased pedestrian traffic and more prominence for Father Duffy’s commanding statue.
  The new TKTS booth for the Times Square location began construction in May 2006 and was completed in October 2008.  During this time, the TKTS booth was temporarily relocated to the nearby Marriott Marquis hotel.  After many delays, the new TKTS booth opened for business on October 16, 2008 on a renovated Duffy Square, with a ceremony featuring Mayor Michael Bloomberg and various Broadway performers.  The booth is wedge-shaped, with wide, bleacher-like stairs covering the roof, allowing pedestrians to sit down or climb the steps for a panoramic, unobstructed view of Times Square.  According to the Theater Development Fund, the final cost of the new booth was $19 million.
caption: Times Square as seen from bleacher seats
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