Times Square, square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, formed by the intersection of Seventh Avenue, 42nd Street, and Broadway. Times Square is also the centre of the Theatre District, which is bounded roughly by Sixth and Eighth avenues to the east and west, respectively, and by 40th and 53rd streets to the south and north, respectively.
Known early on as Long Acre (also spelled Longacre) Square, it had an unsavory reputation as the centre of illicit activity in the 1890s, though earlier in the 19th century it had been both a commercial and a residential area. The square was renamed in 1904 for The New York Times, which opened its new offices in the Times Tower on the square (though it would outgrow them by 1913). Almost immediately the square became the place where New Yorkers gathered to celebrate the arrival of the new year. In 1907 the Times began lowering a huge glass ball down its flagpole at midnight on New Year’s Eve to mark the occasion. Throughout the years, ever more sophisticated technology was used for the square’s ball drop as the tradition came to include live television broadcasts that shared the experience with tens of millions of people across the United States.
At the turn of the 20th century, a number of impressive theatres were established on 42nd Street, and by the second decade of the century the Times Square and Broadway area had become arguably the most famous entertainment district in the country, partly because of the square’s central location and because situated beneath it was a large station for the newly constructed subway. During this period it earned the nickname “Crossroads of the World.” Moreover, in short order Broadway became synonymous with American theatre, especially musical theatre.
Credit : Britannica
Picture Credit : Google
