Times Square is the quintessence of New York City, an area of flashy billboards and gleaming signs stretching from the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue right into the heart of Manhattan. This place filled with curious people has already celebrated its 100th anniversary. The birthday has been celebrated since April 1904, when the skyscraper of the New York Times newspaper of an unusual design rose on the square, giving the new name to Longacre Square, which eventually turned into one continuous attraction of running neon and other advertising. In the same distant year, the terminal station of the first metro line was opened here. The glow of lights in Times Square did not stop even during the First and Second World Wars.
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| Times Square |
General Information
Times Square attracts 35 million visitors annually. Huge branded stores like American Eagle and themed stores like Hershey's draw people in, while multiplex theaters draw crowds with huge screens. In an attempt to make the area more pedestrian-friendly and reduce the usual traffic jams, Broadway from 47th to 42nd Streets has been turned into a bike zone.
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| Times Square |
It was here that the tradition of the New Year's crystal "apple" was born, in connection with which the square became the main center of any holidays in New York, the focus of all modern spectacles. It is difficult, but you can find some secluded place in this patch of bustle and just watch everything that happens. You can sit on a small island of the sidewalk that divides the pedestrian zebra in half, it will seem that you are in the very center of a tornado, and everything around is flying and sparkling. Tourists with unclosing mouths, local rockers on roaring steel horses, Indians or Mexicans playing national melodies are very funny. Sit next to them, turn on your video camera, shoot a video panorama of the square, and you will get the most original soundtrack for your film.
Of the countless shops surrounding Times Square, the toy department store Toys "R" Us is worth noting. Even if children are just a fantasy from the distant future for you, this fairy tale is worth a visit. If you manage to jump into this world of childhood for no more than an hour, then you simply are not in New York yet. If the children are with you and you are already in the store, then leaving it will be your "dream of the day." Imagine creme brulee and yourself inside, how quickly can you enjoy an unforgettable taste? What about children? In general, it is worth trying to bite off this piece of apple (www.toysrustimessquare.com). The Hard Rock Cafe and the huge MTV store are also here, right across the street.
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| Times Square |
At the Marriott Marquis Hotel, on the third floor, the Marquis Theater hospitably opens its doors with 1,600 seats. This hotel, which has become a landmark of the square, was built in 1985, 50 floors high. It is the second largest in the city. On the 46th and 47th floors, there is a restaurant with a revolving floor that offers amazing views of Times Square and the entire city.
Architect John Portamin Jr. designed it in the form of a sort of Spanish courtyard with balconies where the doors of the rooms open. Only this "yard" is huge. The atrium with light pouring from above occupies 37 floors. In the center, elevators with glass walls crawl along the stylobate, and hotel guests, going up or down, see through the glass the entire interior of this huge building and feel themselves floating above the abyss. Entrance to the hotel, of course, is free.
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| Times Square |
You can ride the elevator, and drink a cup of aromatic coffee in one of the many cafes on the floors.
Times Square is home to New York's most famous box office. Here they sell so-called "burning" tickets for all performances, in all theaters, at half price. True, you have to stand in a huge queue and there is no guarantee that you will get tickets for the desired performance: after all, tickets that are “burning”, not redeemed for that day, may turn out to be insultingly few. That's how lucky.
There is a wonderful audience in these queues, real connoisseurs of art, who simply do not have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the full price. Pay attention to the white and red booth with the inscription "tkts".