Why visit
Times Square occupies the bow-tie intersection created as Broadway cuts diagonally across Seventh Avenue around 42nd to 47th Streets. Formerly Longacre Square, it took its present name in 1904 after The New York Times moved into the tower at the southern end of the district.
What to see
Electronic signs and building-scale screens form a regulated part of the streetscape rather than temporary decoration. Broadway theaters, ticket offices, hotels, shops and subway entrances fill the surrounding blocks, while the red steps above the TKTS booth create an elevated public viewing point in the center of the visual field.
Plan your visit
The closure of Broadway traffic lanes created a chain of pedestrian plazas through the district, changing how crowds occupy what was once primarily a congested road junction. Times Square's identity now comes from that collision of circulation and spectacle: commuters and theater audiences move through a civic space whose commercial light is visible at every hour.
