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Times Square of New York

Location and a Brief History

Indubitably the most famous square of all the famous squares of the world, Times Square of New York lies in the heart of the city on the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue. At present, however, all the area lying between 6th and 9th Avenue and 40th and 53rd streets is known by the name of Times Square. Nicknamed as “The Crossroads of the World” and “The Great White Way”, it has been the biggest tourist attraction for tourists for more than a  hundred years. In view of many tourists the square, if seen for the first time in day light does not have much charm for its viewer, but when the same person watches it again at night, it seems to be much fascinating to him.
The square’s history dates back to early 1900s when the population of New York City had expanded to 42nd street. In 1904, Alfred Ochs, the publisher of New York Times, shifted the headquarters of his daily from downtown to a new skyscraper building on 43rd street that he named Times Tower. Soon after this, the square opposite to the building, previously called Long acre Square, began to be known as Times Square. To celebrate the inaugural ceremony of his new headquarters, Ochs arranged a big festival on the final day of the year that lasted all day long in the streets of the square. It was followed by a massive fireworks display in the evening. Two hundred thousand New Yorkers all sang and cheered all the night and warmly welcomed the new year at 12:00 A.M.and with this began a permanent practice of celebrating the New Year’s Eve at Times Square.

In 1907, the city government put a ban on display of fireworks. Ochs coped up with this problem by illuminating a large ball weighing seven hundred pounds made of wood and iron and lowering it from the top of the building exactly at midnight to bid welcome to the year 1908. Since than started the annual ball dropping ceremony at the New Year’s Eve.
Because of being the center of the theater district, people lured to Times Square during the second decade of the previous century. It thus became an ideal place for billboards; in 1917, the first electric billboard was set up. The tendency to watch theatrical plays dropped largely due to the great depression. Nonetheless, in the post world war 2 period, the theater district was on the rise again. In 1990, Walt Disney Company opened a Disney Store in the square.

Empty Times Square Images of an empty Times Square at 8PM during the COVID-19 crisis. Times Square - Manhattan Stock Photo

Interesting Places around the Square

The square has countless things to amuse the tourists: the Naked Cowboy playing a guitar and wearing ten gallon hat along with cowboy boots and an underwear; the Mickey Mouse; the ABC Times Square Studios; Dora The Explorer; and lots of more. A tourist witnessed he saw an old man wearing a blue bikini and foamed crown of Lady Liberty who chased people if they snapped his photos and did not pay him. 
A visit to Times Square might not be complete unless one goes to Dylan’s Candy Bar where one can have chocolate drinks and nostalgic candies. There is also the Grand Central Terminal having a plenty of speciality shops and international restaurants. Besides these all, a branch of the world famous Madam Tassauds wax museum is also here in the Times Square building, exhibiting celebrities that can be seen nowhere. 

Times Square, in some respects, resembles London's hustling and bustling spot, the Piccadilly Square 

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