Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center, and neighborhood in midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is formed by Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. With adjacent Duffy Square, Times Square is a bowtie-shaped space five blocks long between 42nd and 47th Streets.
Brightly lit by numerous billboards and advertisements, it 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 tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days. Top HVAC NYC
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. It is the site of the annual New Year’s Eve ball drop, which began on December 31, 1907, and attracts over a million visitors to Times Square every year. Times Square, specifically the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, is also the eastern terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States.
In 2002, New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani administered the oath of office to the city’s next mayor, Michael Bloomberg, at Times Square after midnight on January 1 as part of the 2001–02 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.
Times Square started hosting other major annual events in the 2000s. Since 2002, the summer solstice has been marked by “Mind over Madness,” a mass yoga event involving 15,000 people. Tim Tompkins, a 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.” Architect Mark Foster Gage proposed and designed the original Times Square Valentine’s Day heart in 2009. Since then, it was creating the heart has become an annual competition.
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
- Fashion One
- Forever 21 (formerly Virgin Megastores)
- Hard Rock Cafe New York
Nearby Attractions
- Waterfalls Central Park is located at Hallett Nature Sanctuary, 6th Avenue & Central Park S, New York, NY.
- Empire State Building is located at 20 W 34th St, New York, NY.
Check out other attractions like American Museum of Natural History