have you ever wondered what lies beneath all those led screens in times square well i'll tell you
one time square also known as 1475 broadway the new york times building the new york times
tower or simply as times tower this 26 story tall building located in the heart of times square new
york was built as the headquarters of the new york times in 1904. you might also recall the
location on account of new year's eve ball drops you see the globally recognized building has been
central to new year's youth traditions celebrated worldwide since 1907. under its location
there's broad exposure hence advertising space at one time square is highly coveted
and among the most valuable signage in the world the entire building is
wrapped with led screens leased to advertisers today we will discover what lies beneath them
this is the story of one time square i'm your host ryan socash and you're watching it's history
originally known as longacre square inspired by london's carriage district times square served
as the early site for william h vanderbilt's american horse exchange in the late 1880s
longacre square was an ample open space surrounded by drab apartments soon however the neighborhood
began to change electricity in the form of theater advertisements street lights transformed
the public spaces likewise construction of new york's first rapid transit system
the interboro rapid transit company or irt gave new yorkers unprecedented mobility in the city
the announcements of the irt spurred real estate speculation by business people who believed that
increased foot traffic in the area would generate profits and they weren't wrong by world war
one most legitimate theaters had moved two times square from former entertainment districts further
downtown decent restaurants and high-end hotels like the astor or the knickerbocker established
themselves in the neighborhood thus contributing to a thriving environment and while popular bars
restaurants and theaters attracted people to the area the development of public transportation
facilitated times square's dramatic growth in 1905 during the first year of operation
the irt times square station served almost 5 million passengers by the late 1920s however
subway lines elevated lines and bus routes stopped at west 42nd street thus becoming an
irrefutable hub of the city transporting not only city dwellers but all affluent suburbanites and
visitors adolf s ox owner and publisher of the new york times from 1896 to 1935
saw an opportunity and selected a prominent location to build the times tower envisioned
by architects cyrus l w eidlitz and andrew c mckenzie the building was covered in brick
terracotta and limestone it was long and narrow due to the convergence of broadway and 7th avenue
so an extensive wing bracing system was used the times tower was 25 floors and upon completion
in 1904 the 25 story skyscraper at 395 feet was acknowledged as the second tallest building in the
world in january 1905 the times finally moved into their new headquarters and it would seem that the
city knew this area was changing you see in the previous spring mayor george b mcclellan signed
a resolution that renamed broadway and 7th avenue intersection from longacre square to times square
to help promote the new headquarters the times held a new year's eve event on december the 31st
1904 welcoming the year of 1905 with a fireworks display set off from the rooftop
of the building at midnight the event was successful attracting 200 000 spectators
and continued annually until 1907. for 1908 ox replaced the display with what he thought would be
a more spectacular event the lowering of a lit ball down the building's flagpole at midnight
with its height the tower could be seen from miles around midtown manhattan and it became a perfect
place for this rooftop celebration making the ball drop celebration with an illuminated ball
increased its night's visibility and was also a chance to show off a new electric technology
and hence began the annual tradition we've all enjoyed ever since sadly the great depression
hampered growth as theaters struggled to survive during this period many became cheap grinder
houses that showed sexually explicit films soon other low forms of entertainment also arrived in
the area such as burlesque shows peep shows dance halls and penny arcades then commercialized sex
proliferated throughout the neighborhood as both male and female prostitutes began lingering along
42nd street likewise construction restrictions during the war worsened conditions by halting
the city's building boom of the 1920s with that in mind at this point in the area's history it's
safe to say that times square and the architecture surrounding found itself in a descent of disparity
and deprevity however its first connection to the sign industry actually started in the heart
of the situation in 1928 when the new york times encircled this building with its famous zipper
headliner this was one of the earliest outdoor incandescent message reader boards that gave the
passing public electric messages about breaking news interestingly times square is now flooded
with various evolved reader boards based on the original 1928 times tower electric message
board the advent of world war ii did little to improve times square's reputation in search of
erotic entertainment soldiers on leave further catalyzed the neighborhood into a zone for vice
world war ii had another noticeable effect on times square in may of 1942 mayor laguardia
announced a dim out where interior and exterior lighting or illuminated advertising were required
to be turned off or directed downward the order sought to protect pedestrian silhouettes against
the horizon from enemy submarines and coastal waters the dim out was so extensive that the
works progress administration or wpa announced they would place blackout masks on 90 900 traffic
lights throughout the city likewise the electric news sign belting times tower went dark for the
first time since its debut in 1928 for many new yorkers this was a monumental sign of the grim
times they were living in frank powell one of the three electricians tasked with the science
maintenance stated on the night of the dim out quote all i want is to start it up again
the night hitler gets killed that would tickle me to death the time sold the building to an
advertising executive and signed designer douglas lee in 1961. lee then sold the building to allied
chemical in 1963. allied chemical considerably modified the building's facade in a 10 million
dollar renovation replacing integrate granite and terracotta elements with a marble facing in 1974
the building was sold to investor alex parker for 6.25 million dollars the building changed
hands several more times until finally falling under the ownership of an investment group
led by lawrence linksman in 1982 linksman promised further renovations to the building including the
possibility of using the north face for signage display now i wouldn't normally say something like
this about architecture that's been disgraced by a tacky technology but this really brought one time
square back to its roots you see following the sale of the building by the times the zipper was
operated on an inconsistent basis by various news outlets and was shut off entirely between 1961
to 1965 and then again from 1977 to 1986 when the ticker was revived by newsday which operated
it until december the 31st 1994. ultimately newsday declined to renew the lease on the ticker
believing that they didn't get much out of the sign financially publishing company pearson plc
operated the zipper from december the 31st 1994 until it ceded its role to dow jones
in june of 1995. from 1990 to 1996 sony ran a jumbotron on the tower's exterior in that case
alongside its use for advertising and news it was also frequently used by the producers of the late
night talk show with david letterman who could display a live feed from the studio on the screen
however as a cost-saving measure sony declined to renew its lease of the space
leading to the subsequent removal of the jumbotron in june of 1996. due to its frequent
use by the late show its producer rob brunette jokingly considered the removal of the jumbotron
to be quote a sad sad day for new york in modern times one-time square has continued
to house tenants on its ground-level floors in the late 1990s a warner brothers retail store
filled the first three floors in early 2006 the floors were occupied by a pop-up store called the
jcpenney experience in november of 2008 a pharmacy chain walgreens opened a new flagship store in the
space for a lease valued at four million dollars yearly then we have the former electrical room in
the tower's basement which currently serves as a vault for storing items relating to new year's eve
celebrations at times square including the ball itself spare parts numerous signage and other
memorabilia in september of 2017 the building's owners unveiled plans to use much of its vacant
space under the proposal a museum dedicated to the history of times square would be built on the 15th
through the 17th floors and the 18th floor would contain a new observatory the ground level would
also be renovated to provide an expanded entrance to the new york city subway's times square 42nd
street station directly underneath the building however the mta did not start construction on the
42nd street shuttle project until august of 2019. as part of the redevelopment of old times square
a new 20-foot wide staircase entrance with a glass canopy and a new elevator entrance will be built a
new elevator to the building's observation deck will be installed and maintained by
jamestown developers 95 years later times square is still the number one place to gather in the u.s
for new year's eve and each year over half a million people will hold court in the square
waiting for that final moment being in times square on new year's eve people come to watch
the countdown and see the moment of transition which is symbolically marked by the dropping
of the silver crystal illuminated ball from the rooftop of one time square new york's new
year's eve ball drop celebration courtesy of international television attracts billions of
viewers who are riveted on one time square's north face all waiting for the ticking clock and the
minute before midnight when the ball begins its famous descent as it's known the ball drop occurs
one day a year several strokes before midnight and although the ball drop itself is quick
its 60 second descent is planned for during the entirety of the year that precedes it the entity
in charge is known as countdown entertainment the exclusive representative of the ball drops
year-end celebration the ball drop as noted by jeff strauss president of countdown is new york's
biggest annual promotion and takes all year to plan for including finding sponsors coordinating
all the event participants during the six hours between the rising of the ball at 6 00 pm and its
drop at midnight there's also the planning and management of pyrotechnics which go off at that
same time as for the famous last 60 second count when the crystal ball is lowered down the flagpole
its organization is now managed by landmark and tony calvano's staff who offered some remarks on
the process quote to get the crystal ball ready for that night we install the rigging and the
ball on one time square rooftop pole before that it takes us about two weeks of prep work for the
final 60 second drop which includes fabricating each new year's new numbers for the upcoming
year and installing them as the clock strikes midnight we maintain the actual 60-second ball
drop operation one-time square is also known for billboards and it's a sight to see throughout 1996
one time square's first electric billboards were installed a cup of noodles billboard with steam
effects was added to the front of the tower later accompanied by an animated budweiser sign the
steam or smoke effect was also used by other times square billboards such as the camel cigarette
sign in october of that same year a 55-foot video screen sponsored by itt corporation was introduced
to the top of the tower which featured video advertisements and community service announcements
in december of 1996 a panasonic display operated by nbc known as astrovision was introduced as the
replacement for sony's jumbotron at the tower's base and let me assure you none of this was in
vain you see with growing tourism and high traffic in times square the area was seen by a staggering
100 million pedestrians yearly alongside its prominence in media coverage for the new year's
festivities of course this all boiled down to times square becoming a center point in media
both at home and abroad with the truth being that our generation knows times square from these tvs
not one time square the building that defined the area buried beneath monitors and it's at
this point that i'd like for us to come to a conclusion together you share your feelings
about one time square in the comments section and i'll do so in the wrap-up for the video
have a look at the before and after pictures of this tower the picture on the right is an absolute
reflection of perverse times with a piece of architecture and what is arguably the most
pinnacle point of america's largest city has sold its soul i don't personally like it yet i can't
criticize it either because the energy of times square is exciting but more importantly one-time
square in its modern form is also perhaps the most honest reflection of mainstream american culture
brands here not only sell you their products but they sell you their morals
and the lifestyle you should lead factors of which they probably arrived at based on political under
messages anyhow my point is that newspapers once shaped society in the exact same way
and hence from a philosophical standpoint one-time square has simply evolved just like i said before
we will basically trade all our historic skyscrapers for trinkets anyhow thank you
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about the history of newspaper row until next time this is ryan socash signing off