Before Times Square: Longacre Square
In the mid-19th century, the area now known as Times Square was a bustling but unglamorous carriage district called Longacre Square. Stables, blacksmiths, harness-makers and carriage manufacturers crowded the blocks between 42nd and 47th Streets where Broadway crosses 7th Avenue. The district was essential to a city where horse-drawn transport was the primary means of getting around — but it was also grimy, smelly, and decidedly un-prestigious.
The neighbourhood began to shift in the 1890s as wealthy New Yorkers moved uptown and entertainment entrepreneurs followed. Oscar Hammerstein I — grandfather of the famous lyricist — opened the Olympia Theatre at Broadway and 44th Street in 1895, the first of what would become a cluster of theatres that formed the nucleus of the Broadway district.
The Timeline
Named Times Square
In April 1904, The New York Times opened its new headquarters in a striking 25-story tower at the south end of Longacre Square. Publisher Adolph Ochs lobbied Mayor George McClellan to rename the district in the newspaper's honour. The mayor agreed, and on April 8, 1904, Times Square was officially born. Ochs held a fireworks celebration on New Year's Eve that year — the first of what would become an annual tradition.
The IRT Subway Opens
In October 1904, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company opened New York's first subway line, with a station directly beneath Times Square at 42nd Street. The subway transformed the area overnight — hundreds of thousands of people now flowed through the square every day, making it one of the most accessible locations in the city and guaranteeing the success of every business that opened there.
The First Ball Drop
For New Year's Eve 1907–08, The New York Times replaced its rooftop fireworks (which had been banned by the fire department) with a lowering illuminated ball. Designed by sign maker Artkraft Strauss, the original ball was a 700-pound iron-and-wood sphere studded with 100 incandescent bulbs. An estimated 200,000 people crowded Times Square to watch it descend. The tradition has continued every year since — halted only during WWII blackouts in 1942 and 1943.
The Great White Way
The explosion of electric advertising signs in the 1910s and 1920s earned Times Square the nickname "The Great White Way" — a phrase originally applied to Broadway's theatre lighting but quickly adopted for the district's blazing commercial signage. By the 1920s, luminous signs for everything from cigarettes to chewing gum covered nearly every vertical surface. The area was synonymous with glamour, showbusiness, Jazz Age nightlife, and the roar of the entertainment economy.
V-J Day Celebration
On August 14, 1945, news of Japan's surrender ending World War II sent an estimated two million people flooding into Times Square. The resulting scenes of spontaneous joy — including Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse — became among the most iconic images of the 20th century. The square had always been the city's gathering point, but V-J Day confirmed its status as America's collective living room.
Decline: The Dark Years
As middle-class families fled to the suburbs during the 1950s and 1960s, Times Square fell into a prolonged decline. By the 1970s, the area had become notorious for crime, prostitution, drug trafficking and adult entertainment. Many legitimate theatres closed or converted to grindhouse cinemas. The city's fiscal crisis of 1975 meant there was little money for policing or redevelopment. For a generation of New Yorkers, Times Square was a symbol of urban decay rather than glamour.
The Turnaround Begins
The revival of Times Square began in the 1980s with a combination of aggressive policing, zoning changes, and private investment. Mayor Ed Koch's administration pushed major corporate tenants to anchor the area, leading to the construction of several office towers. The Times Square Business Improvement District (BID) was established in 1992, providing sustained funding for cleaning, security, and promotional programs that accelerated the area's transformation.
The Disney Effect & Rebirth
Disney's decision to renovate the derelict New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street in 1993 was a watershed moment. Disney's investment — and the resulting production of The Lion King — signalled to other corporations that Times Square was safe for family entertainment. Within a decade, the peep shows and strip clubs had been replaced by theme restaurants, flagship retail stores and tourist attractions. Crime plummeted by 75% between 1993 and 2001.
Times Square Goes Pedestrian
In May 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration closed Broadway to vehicle traffic between 42nd and 47th Streets, converting the roadway into a pedestrian plaza. Despite initial resistance from taxi and business groups, the experiment proved a spectacular success: pedestrian traffic increased by 11%, retail rents rose sharply, and injury rates fell. The temporary closure became permanent in 2010, and the plazas were redesigned with seating, plantings and public art.
Hurricane Sandy
On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck New York City, flooding lower Manhattan and triggering widespread blackouts. For a brief, eerie period, Times Square's lights went dark — a sight that shocked residents and observers worldwide. The district was among the first areas to restore power, and the speed of its recovery became a symbol of the city's resilience.
The Empty Square: COVID-19
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought Times Square to a near-complete standstill for the first time in its history. Broadway shut down entirely, hotels emptied, and the pedestrian plazas — normally packed with tens of thousands of visitors — fell silent. The Ball Drop on New Year's Eve 2020 took place without any public audience for the first time ever. Times Square's emptiness became a global symbol of the pandemic's scale.
The Crossroads of the World
Times Square today receives more than 50 million visitors per year, making it one of the most visited tourist destinations on Earth. Broadway has fully recovered, hosting 41 theatres and drawing over 14 million audience members each season. The district continues to evolve — new towers rise, screens grow larger, and the mix of tourism, entertainment, retail and technology keeps the area at the forefront of urban innovation. And every night, the lights come on — as bright as ever.
Times Square by the Numbers
- Area: approximately 0.1 square miles (the bowtie between 42nd and 47th Streets)
- Annual visitors: over 50 million
- Daily pedestrians: approximately 330,000
- Broadway theatres: 41
- Hotels: 60+, with 32,000 rooms within walking distance
- LED and illuminated sign surface: over 330,000 sq ft
- New Year's Eve attendance: typically 58,000–100,000 in the plaza, millions more worldwide
- The Ball: 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles, 32,256 LED lights, ~11,875 lbs (≈5.4 tonnes)