In times square red, times square blue, delany tackles the question of why public restrooms, peepshows, and treefilled parks are necessary to a citys physical and psychological landscape. This interactive feature of the new york times shows the changes. The history of new years eve in times square citypass. Times square red, times square blue sexual cultures series delany, samuel r.
Delany is one of our finest social critics and one of our great writers. The citys density and development worked its way uptown, pushing the theater. Many have hotly debated the recent transformation of this. It has continued to serve several functions in its 300year history, particularly as an entertainment hub and tourist destination receiving an average of. Longacre square now times square, broadway and 42nd street, 1900. By the end of the nineteenth century, new york city had expanded up to 42nd street and the area was. The redevelopment of times square, which started three decades ago, will be done with the opening of 11 times square next month. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the. Once in a while right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale. In 1909, a temporary eightton statue entitled purity defeat of slander by leo lentelli dominated the space. Delanys new book, times square red, times square blue, is a.
Planning, and then implementing, new york citys 42d street development project takes a great deal of time. Next month, 11 times square, a new, glassy 40story office tower at 42nd street and eighth avenue, will formally open with its first tenant. The present times square is certainly clean and family friendly, but its hardly as interesting as the old one. The firstever celebration of new years eve in times square took place in 1904. In the book the devils playground, author james traub analyzes the article. Dec 29, 2015 the rules set a minimum for the amount of signage on any facade facing times square, and towers were required to decorate the skyline with a distinctive top. It acquired its name in 1904 when albert ochs, publisher of the new york times, moved the newspapers headquarters to a new skyscraper on what was then known as longacre square.
Times square red, times square blue 20th anniversary edition. Times square theater project gutenberg selfpublishing. On february 11, 1981, the 42nd street development project announced its plan to revitalize seedy times square following years or moral. Its a childrens book, an adult book, an art book, a history book. Times square red, times square blue sexual cultures series. Measured but emotional, illuminating but challenging. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the times square hustler. This bracing and wellcalibrated blend of journalism, personal history and. Now known as times square, the area at the intersection of broadway. Brightly lit by numerous billboards and advertisements, it stretches from west 42nd to west 47th streets, and is sometimes referred to as the crossroads of the world, the center of the. We will explore the history of legendary theaters, grand hotels, and lavish movie palaces and see how, even in the midst of massive redevelopment, traces of old times square remain hidden in plain sight.
The san francisco chronicle a profoundly humane and intelligent book. Eidlitz, located at 42nd street and broadway in new york city. A times square building boom took place in the 1920s and advertising in the area was on the rise, both in price and in number and size of advertisements. This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the decision to take an hourglassshaped traffic funnel between fortysecond street and fortyseventh street on broadway, which had been called longacre square, and rename it after the new york times, which had just built its office there. The dursts had a particular interest in times square. History and historic preservation are not as evident in the new times square as they are in south street seaport, but nonetheless, the redevelopment of this area is all about using surviving historic fabric, along with facsimiles, to create a historically tinged atmosphere that will make visitors feel that they are experiencing times square as.
Times square through the decades milrose consultants. The spectacularly successful transformation of times square has become a model for other cities. No other work does so much to put times square into historical perspective both as a. Sep 11, 2007 for more than a century, times square has mesmerized the world with the spectacle of its dazzling supersigns, its theaters, and its oftenseedy nightlife.
The unexpected lessons of times squares comeback city journal. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every. Only big megaprojects were thought to offer salvation for an injured city. Apr 25, 2017 the history of times square times square is a major tourist destination, commercial intersection, and entertainment center in midtown manhattan, at the junction of broadway and seventh avenue. Times square red, times square blue consists of two extended essays, a form ive grown quite fond of since my first try at it in 1974. The nyc of the late 70s was a fascinating place and time. Delanys times square red, times square blue reading this book reminds me, as few others in a lifetime of reading have done, just why it is that we so love our cities, what we value in them, and why the great ones become so. The name stuck, even after the new york times moved across broadway in 19. Also at this time, new york opened the citys first subway line while the new york times magazine commemorated the official opening of their new headquarters. The changing face of times square the new york public library. Father duffy square encompasses the northern triangle of times square. I was surprised to find myself liking the later, more contemporary chapters, just as much if not more as those on times square s early days.
In new york rising, authors explore 400 years of the citys history. In 1945 the largest crowd times square has ever seen in its history gathered together to celebrate a raucous victory over japan day. This book consists of 18 essays about various aspects of the history of the times square neighborhood. I saw that quote about fairy tales embroidered on a decorative pillow at a home decorating store. Snohetta makes times square permanently pedestrian archdaily. Twentieth anniversary edition of a landmark book that cataloged a vibrant but disappearing neighborhood in new york city in the two decades that preceded the original publication of times square red, times square blue, fortysecond street, then the most infamous street in america, was being remade into a sanitized tourist haven. Times square red, times square blue is a nonfiction book written by science fiction author samuel r. It is the site of the annual new years eve ball drop, which began on december 31, 1907 and continues to attract over a million visitors to times square every year.
Printed posters turned to bright, flashing, neon lights, hd led screens the size of a football field, and massive, crawling messages like those found on the nasdaq display a screen that is more than. All of us involved in the redevelopment project were new yorkers, born and bred. Of all the ironies of the times square redevelopment, the biggest is this. It is a tale of late 20th century times square a compilation of stories of the old times square in all its seedy glory. The redevelopment project focused on revitalizing 42nd street as a theater and entertainment center. She tells how the troubled execution of the original redevelopment plan. Opinion times square redevelopment marches on the new. A crowd outside the new york times building follows the.
In times square roulette, lynne sagalyn debunks the myth of an overnight urban miracle performed by disney and mayor giuliani, to tell the far more complex and commanding tale of a twentyyear process of public controversy, nonstop litigation, and interminable delay. Permits have been filed for a sixstory commercial building at 215 west 42nd street in times square. On completion, the 20 times square development will host the largest led signage in times. Delany and published in 1999 by the new york university press. Square has concluded the first redevelopment phase of a. The times square theater district had reached the same lowest point in the citys history as the city itself had in the 1970s. With initial plans to use the empty 30,000squarefoot industrial building for parking, freilich is now pushing forward with a plan to add two floors to. Over time, times square has offered both the high life and the underbelly of new york, and it seems that new yorkers demand both aspects of their city. After tremendous time, money, and effort, times square slowly began to transform as adult stores and sleazy theaters were replaced by childoriented stores and successful musicals. Times square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center, and neighborhood in the midtown manhattan section of new york city, at the junction of broadway and seventh avenue.
May 25, 2011 recent history is easily forgotten or erroneously remembered in the highly successful new york city of today. It was therefore disturbing to read in paul goldbergers appraisal of new. Dec 04, 2010 times square, of course, has certain unique qualities that none of the citys current projects enjoy. With yesterdays grand opening ceremony in the books, times squares 8. Among these changing the community were aids, crack cocaine, and urban redevelopment. Times square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center, and. Skyscrapers were growing, and entertainment was big, especially when it came to entertaining men leaving for war. One times square, also known as 1475 broadway, the new york times building, the new york times tower, or simply as the times tower, is a 25story, 363foothigh 111 m skyscraper, designed by cyrus l.
Ahron freilichs plans for smallman street redevelopment. As tourist activity increased, times square continued to improve. Times square redevelopment is complete the new york times. T he 42nd street redevelopment plan had nothing to do with this revolution in crime fighting and the safer times square it createdthe main reason investment again started to flow into the neighborhood, just as its the main reason investment has started to flow into a markedly safer 125th street, also the site of an ambitious, but largely. Located between seventh avenue and eighth avenue, the interior lot is minutes from the 42nd street subway hub, serviced by the 1, 2, 3, 7, a, c, e, n, q, r, w, and s trains. Male prostitution in new york city ebook written by robert p. Times squares accessibility began to flourish during the 20sall forms of public transportation stopped at 42 nd street. In 1981, rolling stone magazine called west 42nd street, located in the heart of times square, the sleaziest block in america. The tradition of having a big celebration and the ball drop in times square on new years eve dates back to 1907. He argues that starting in 1985, new york city criminalized peep shows and sex movie houses to clear the way for the rebuilding of times square. He found such a population in male prostitutes in times square which had developed a community to deal with common problems. York citys gentrification and the redevelopment of times square in the name of. It reads like a time machine with the story of new york citys iconic times square depicted. Times square, of course, has certain unique qualities that none of the citys current projects enjoy.