Times Square
Times Square is quintessential New York City, a neighborhood of screaming billboards and shining signs stretching from the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue right into the heart of Manhattan. This curiosity-filled place has already celebrated its 100th birthday. The birthday has been celebrated since April 1904, when the New York Times skyscraper of unusual design rose on the square, giving a new name to Longacre Square, which eventually turned into one continuous attraction of running neon and other advertising. In the same distant year, the terminus of the first subway line opened here. The glow of the lights in Times Square didn’t stop even during World Wars I and II.
Video: Times Square
General Information
Times Square attracts 35 million visitors each year. Huge brand name stores like American Eagle and themed stores like Hershey’s draw people in, and multiplex movie theaters draw crowds due to their huge screens. In an effort to make the area more pedestrian friendly and reduce the usual amount of traffic, Broadway from 47th to 42nd Street has been turned into a bike zone.
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This is where the tradition of the New Year’s Eve crystal “apple” originated, making the square the main center of any New York City holiday celebrations, the hub of all modern spectacles. It is difficult, but you can find some secluded place on this patch of bustle and just watch everything happening. You can settle down on a small island of the sidewalk, dividing the pedestrian zebra in half, it will seem that you are in the very center of the tornado, and around everything is flying and sparkling. Tourists with their mouths hanging open, local rockers on roaring steel horses, Indians or Mexicans playing national tunes are quite amusing. Sit next to them, turn on your video camera, take a video panorama of the square, and you’ll have the most original soundtrack for your movie.
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Of the countless stores surrounding Times Square, the Toys “R” Us department store is worth noting. Even if children are just a fantasy from the distant future to you, it’s worth a visit to this fairy tale. If you can get into this world of childhood for no longer than an hour, then you’re just not in New York yet. If the kids are with you and you’re already in the store, then exiting the store will be a “day dream” for you. Imagine a crème brûlée and yourself inside, how quickly can you savor the unforgettable flavor? And the kids? All in all, it’s worth a bite of this bite of apple (www.toysrustimessquare.com) too. Hard Rock Cafe and the huge-sized “MTV store” are here, too, right across the street.
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At the Marriott Marquis, the 1,600-seat Marquis Theater opens its doors hospitably on the third floor. This hotel, which has become a landmark of the square, was built in 1985, 50 stories high. It is the second largest in the city. On the 46th through 47th floors is a restaurant with a revolving floor that offers amazing views of Times Square and the entire city.
.Architect John Portamin Jr. designed it as a Spanish courtyard with balconies where the doors of the rooms go out. Only this “courtyard” is huge. Atrium with light pouring from above occupies 37 floors. In the center of the stylobate elevator cabins with glass walls crawl along the stylobate, and the hotel guests, going up or down, see through the glass the whole interior of this huge building and feel themselves floating above the abyss. Entrance to the hotel is, of course, free.
.You can also ride the elevator, and have a cup of aromatic coffee in one of the many cafes on the floors.
.Times Square is home to New York’s most famous theater box office. Here they sell so-called “hot” tickets to all shows, in all theaters, for half price. However, you have to stand in a huge queue and there is no guarantee that you will get tickets for the desired performance: after all, “hot”, not bought out on this day tickets can be very few.
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Standing in these queues is a beautiful audience, true connoisseurs of art, who simply do not have the opportunity to buy tickets for full price. Note the white and red booth with the inscription “tkts.”
