times square it's not really a square it's more like two triangles where seventh avenue
and broadway meet times square is located in manhattan which is located in new york city
so what's the story with these two triangles and what can you see in times square these days
our story begins way back to over 200 and some years ago the state commission said yo
let's slice up the land above houston street into boxes because boxes are cool some people
were horrified at this edgar allan poe even said woe is we we are doomed we are killing the romance
or something to that effect but boxes proved to be cool after all because cutting cities
into boxes became popular other cities around the world copied this pattern as well but in
new york they made an exception to the boxes the bloomingdale road because it's a pretty broad road
some might say it's a pretty broad way i hope you get where i'm going with this
eventually bloomingdale road became known as broadway and because of the diagonal
path of broadway it created two triangles via its intersection with seventh avenue
further in time since this intersection became such a hub it eventually became the center of the
horse business think blacksmiths carriage makers and everyone and everything that involves horses
so they named this area long acre square because london had a carriage district too that was named
longacre square so why not name it the same then this area started to look drab and dingy
people started considering it to be part of the tenderloin district yes after the meat story
has it the place was so rough that businesses would bribe the police to get some protection
it's said that a police officer named captain alexander clubber williams said i've been having
chuck steak ever since i've been on the force and now i'm going to have a bit of tenderloin
but there was an announcement the IRT an underground subway line was going to be built and
will pass through long acre square this started some real estate speculation businesses started
moving into the area businesses like the empire theater moved in which was the first theater to
have electricity at this point we should note that something was happening with the newspapers
there was a rivalry going on the new york world built a building so tall that it was the tallest
in the world for about four years the new york herald also built a building to this day the area
around it is called herald square then you have new york times who didn't want to be left behind
speculating on the announcement of the underground subway that was coming soon to longacre square
it purchased a hotel right here which they demolished to build times tower
so the underground subway opened up and the subway actually ran through the basement of
times tower as everything in this world needs a name they would need to name the
subway stop would they name it 42nd street or perhaps broadway or maybe even longacre square
of course this would be a boring story without some intrigue you see adolph ochs
owned the new york times at the time it was rumored that he rubbed elbows with the mayor
george mcclellan jr and the founder of the subway system august belmont jr to this day we call this
area intersecting broadway and 7th avenue as times square to celebrate the new headquarters
the times hosted a new year's party in times square but the times wanted something even more
spectacular so they came up with the time ball being dropped at midnight which they made into a
tradition every year even when the times moved out of times square to another building the tradition
of the ball drop at times square remained and more theaters from downtown kept moving into
times square along with restaurants hotels and other businesses eventually all transport lines
subways buses and elevated rails all stopped at times square times square was attracting more
producers and other theater professionals people figured out that a hit show had the potential to
make a million dollars in one year which was the cost to build a theater at the time at the time
there was a total of 80 theaters open for business then to make times square even more compelling
in comes the zipper this was a continuous electric news sign that delivered breaking news and events
it attracted a lot of people to times square live theaters and cinemas also made large signs
and marquees that brightened up the area but oh no here comes the great depression
the struggle is real theaters needed to make money so they became a place for adult entertainment
in came the burlesque shows and other cheap entertainment then came world war II times square
continued to be a place for cheap entertainment for adults and in that it also became a popular
place to visit among the soldiers to the dismay of the area and because of the war there was a
construction and light restriction so buildings were getting dilapidated and for the first time
since the tradition started there was no ball drop on new year's eve but when the war ended
there was a huge celebration in times square and the tradition of the ball drop continued then
in came the 60s with its age of libertarianism all the adult entertainment offered at times square
boomed even more of course this brought along felony and crime if you think it couldn't get any
worse drugs made its arrival but despite all this dark and dingy history times square still remained
both a symbol and a central transit hub people were still determined to revitalize times square
there was even a plan for it of course revitalization didn't happen overnight
because the adult entertainment industry was very profitable and when something is profitable it's
hard to shut down plus there was a lot of lawsuits against the plan but eventually all the lawsuits
were figured out and another plan came out and this was when things started to look bright for
times square literally and figuratively street art and bright lights were encouraged in fact there
was even a minimum brightness level for the lights to make sure times square was bold and bright
theaters fixed themselves up and even disney came in to help fix up one of the theaters with the
theaters being fixed the installation of bright lights and a group helping keep the area safe and
improved development more businesses moved in so today we have the mad chaotic magical times square
so what's there to see in times square well first and foremost remember that times square
sits on the historic road called broadway it is more than just two triangles in the middle of
midtown manhattan it is two triangles within the theater district there are 41 broadway theaters in
new york 40 of them are located within the theater district this map is available to all patrons on
my patreon link is in the description below we are not going to name all the broadway theaters
but here are some notable ones the belasco theater legend has it that it was haunted by
its early owner david belasco up until it staged the performance of oh calcutta that featured both
male and female nudity ever since the premiere of the production there was no longer any reports of
david belasco's ghost the three oldest theaters are the lyceum the hudson and new amsterdam
new amsterdam theater was renovated by the help of disney and opened with the
lion king which is still in production today and we can't forget the namesake of the area
the times tower or officially one time square it's not that recognizable anymore from its original
facade because of all the billboards and lights that were added in the 90s but you can recognize
it by the ball at the top and the current year then you have the statue of george m cohan
you might know him better by his song give my regards to broadway at the far north is the statue
of father duffy he's recognized because his parish served the area of hell's kitchen and times square
back in their dark slum days his statue faces the side of his former church
right next to these two statues is a TKTS booth where you can get same day tickets for theater
performances ticket prices will be anywhere from 20 to 50 percent off and hopefully the TKTS booth
will open as broadway opens up what would be a portion of the road that is broadway is dedicated
for pedestrians between 42nd and 47th streets here you will find tables and chairs to hang out at
there are plenty of street performers vendors and a menagerie of people trying to get money from you
i'm not going to lie times square is a tourist trap but it's still worth seeing surrounding
the area of times square are large retailers and billboards galore i recommend going hanging out
and just taking in the chaos and mayhem of what some refer to as the crossroads of the world
and that's times square thank you so much for watching
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so with that thank you again for watching and happy new yorking