TIMES SQUARE IN USA

TIMES SQUARE

Times Square is a major commercial intersection located in the Midtown Manhattan of New York City. It is beautifully adorned with hundreds of billboards and advertisements and that is why Times Square is sometimes referred to as “The Crossroads of the World”. 

It is also one of the world’s busiest pedestrian areas with approximately 330,000 people passing through Times Square daily, of which many of them are tourists. This fantastic place draws an estimated 50 million visitors every year. It is also the hub and a major center of the world’s entertainment industry.

 Times Square headquarters officially opened on New Year's Eve 1904. To celebrate the occasion, Ochs threw an all-day street party that concluded with a fireworks display set off from the base of the tower. 

Much to Hearst's anger and disappointment, the promotion proved so successful that Times Square immediately replaced City Hall Park as the favorite gathering site for New Yorkers to ring in the new year.

 By 1906 the crowds had grown so large that the Times, by now fully integrated into the new social and economic scene that had blossomed around its namesake square, began a holiday custom that soon became recognizable around the world as the official time and place America noted the arrival of the new year.

9 Facts Time Square 

Times Square is one of the defining icons of New York City. Its dazzling billboards draw hundreds of eyes upward and attract people from all over the world. But it’s more than just a place of beauty and lights — Times Square has a rich history filled with interesting facts.  Here are 9 of the little known details of Times Square that remind us there’s more than meets the eye.

1. Times Square’s name has nothing to do with time

According to Parade, the famous area actually draws its moniker from the New York Times. It was originally called Longacre Square, but took the name One Times Square in honor of the newspaper’s residence in the location. However, the paper’s office has since moved away from Times Square and is now located in The New York Times building, located at 40th and 8th Avenue.

2. New Year’s Eve in Times Square was originally commemorated with fireworks

The inaugural Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration took place in 1904, as The Daily Dose details, when the Times office celebrated the company’s opening. The event drew about 200,000 people and within a few years, Times Square became the spot to celebrate the new year. It wasn’t until 1907 that the iconic electric ball began famously dropping, a visual spectacle that symbolizes the first second of the new year once it descends down the flagpole.

3. The Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball is made of Waterford Crystals

Irish glasswork company Waterford used 2,668 crystals to adorn the most recent Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball. It weighs 1,070 pounds, is made of an aluminum frame, uses multi-colored LED lighting, and sports an outer surface of reflective, triangular-shaped crystals. The pole it descends from boasts a height of 475 feet. The original Ball weighed 700 pounds and descended from a height of 141 feet.

4. Times Square is not all skyscrapers and flashing lights

On 8th Avenue, you can still find some vestiges of old New York. Five, four-story walkups remain from a time before Times Square’s raging success as a tourist attraction. These walkups house two gift shops, a deli, a restaurant, and a pub.

5. Times Square’s NASDAQ sign is the largest LED sign in the world

The sign, which cost over $37 million to build, stands 37 feet high, according to Nasdaq. There are around 50 billboards in Times Square, which are such a staple (and moneymaker) that New York zoning requires all buildings in the area to be covered by them. In case you would like one for purchase, they cost between $1.1 million to $4 million a year.

6. The Zipper has shown its fair share of history

The Motograph News Bulletin, affectionately known as the Zipper, was introduced on November 6, 1928, as EDN documents. It originally had 14,800 light bulbs and was controlled by a chain conveyer system, with each frame as a letter to spell out news headlines. The first headline announced Herbert Hoover’s victory in the 1928 presidential election. On August 14, 1945, the Zipper drew an exuberant crowd of thousands when it displayed Japan’s surrender in World War II.

7. The New Victory Theater is the only theater that hosts shows for family audiences year-round

Built in 1900 by Oscar Hammerstein I, it was originally named the Theatre Republic. It changed hands a few times over the years and was even a burlesque venue in the ‘30s. In 1990, the city of New York took over the building and renamed it the New Victory Theater. It presents shows for children and families, offering a full season of performance art including dance, circus, puppetry, and opera.

8. Times Square is one of the world’s most visited places

The famous site is visited by 360,000 people per day, which means over 131 million people pass through Times Square each year. The high amount of traffic generates $4.8 billion annually in entertainment, hotel, and retail sales. For every dollar a tourist spends in New York City, 22 cents is spent in Times Square.

9. Times Square is completely smoke-free

Since February 2011, Times Square is a designated smoke-free zone, as the Guardian reported. Smokers are fined $50 if caught smoking within the area. Better save that money for one the many candy shops, such as M&M’s World, a 24,000 square foot glass box featuring 72 giant tubes of sugary chocolate delight.