TIMES SQUARE NYC

Times Square is not a square at all. In actuality, it is comprised of two triangles formed by Broadway crossing 7^th Avenue between 47^th and 42^nd Streets. It is also unmistakably one of the best known and most exciting parts of the city, if not the country.

It wasn’t always this way. At one point earlier on in the century, Times Square was known as the horse trading center of the city. It then became the heart of the entertainment district, with theaters and cinemas and glitz. Slowly, the gold dust faded, and darker forces took over. Seedy hotels and peepshows became the norm, with prostitutes crisscrossing the once-clean streets at night. All of a sudden, Times Square wasn’t a very safe or glamorous place to be anymore. Recently however, thanks in part to efforts by Disney and others, Times Square has experienced a Renaissance of sorts. Gone are the strip clubs and dark motels; they have been replaced by coffee shops, family eateries, a Disney-run theater, and upscale, clean hotels. Now that the city is safe again, perhaps it’s time to plan a day of exploration.

The first thing you’ll notice is the advertising. It’s everywhere. Buildings are actually required to sport ads and slogans, to the point where you cannot help but feel trapped in a commercial. Most of the billboards are very elaborate and cool, such as my personal favorite: the Smoking Cup of Soup.

In addition to the stores and restaurants, there are also numerous special sights that are exclusive to this area. For example, the National Debt Clock is constantly reminding us how far in the red the United States is as well as how much it would cost each person in the country to pay off (which, at the time of writing, is just under $21,000). There is also a Sony-owned gigantic video screen at 1 Times Square Plaza as well as a ticker which delivers the very latest stock quotes and world news events. Media-savvy people will be interested to note that both ABC and MTV have studios which overlook Times Square, a position which helps the latter network immensely in terms of publicity and proximity to major music and entertainment events.

Believe it or not, there’s also a small gathering at Times Square each December 31^st. This low-key event, know as New Year’s Eve, features about nine zillion drunk people and a luminescent ball which is slowly lowered down from the pole at 1 Times Square Plaza. The party gets bigger every year, and with the millennium breathing down our necks, this year’s bash promises to be epic.