Let The Good Times Square Roll (Times Square)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Times Square
Date:	05/06/05 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loads to do, Some HUGE shops, Attractions near by

Disadvantages: It could cost you a lot of money, Lack of public toilets, Cost of the shows

By now you’re guessing that I loved New York, maybe even to the point where you dread another review about it. Well, the good news is that this maybe the last one I’m gonna write although I’m still debating whether to review the hotel we stayed at (Hmmmmm….*ponders*). So anyway, we know that most of the sights and sounds of New York are iconic. As a matter of fact, NY is an icon in its own right! There are so many visual images of the *Big Apple that it can be a big, hairy haze of confusion as to what to see and visit and, even, what to review when you get back....

Times Square is another landmark synonymous with NY. For most, it conjures up a picture of thousands of people celebrating the coming of a New Year at the annual jamboree that is New Year’s Eve. Fireworks and folks, New Yorkers and the chiming of the last few seconds of an outgoing year. For me, it also makes me think of the opening sequence of “Vanilla Sky” with Tom Cruise roaming around an utterly deserted Times Square, thinking, I’ll bet this place is simply never like this!

The world-renowned area within Manhattan has undergone some major changes over the years. Up until only recently, Times Square was a dirty, littered section of NY given to seedy sex clubs and petty crime. It is with great credit to Mayor Giuliani and others that TS has cleaned up its act and, once again, become a magnate for tourists.

Curiously, Times Square isn’t a square at all. It’s a junction where Broadway crosses 7th Avenue. To get to TS, you can either walk (depending on where your hotel is), catch a yellow NY cab or take the Subway 1,2,3,7,9, N, Q, R, S, W to 42nd Street/Times Square. The name “Times Square” originated in 1904. When the “New York Times” set up a shop in what is now 1 Times Square, the area was re-named in its honour. That same year, a huge fireworks display set a precedent for the now world famous annual event watched by millions on their TV.

The 1920’s saw an increase in theatres that enhanced the reputation of 42nd Street although the boom times of TS and its surrounding attributes saw a decline in the 1960’s, made worse by the economic ills of the 70’s and 80’s. The establishment of the Times Square Business Improvement District in the 1990’s set the area back on the road to recovery and what it is today. The arrival of the Disney company, which spent millions on renovating The New Amsterdam Theatre to stage “The Lion King”, only served to accelerate this move to a more hospitable part of NY.

We certainly found Times Square a safe place to be. Police presence is high and obvious whilst an army of street cleaners keep the roads clean. At times, the streets and avenues can be a blur of yellow as mass ranks of yellow NY cabs take their clients to their destinations or return looking for another job. The sidewalks are a writhing sea of bodies, all going about their business whether that’s trying to get to that next shop or heading towards their place of work. Funnily enough, the evening is far busier than the daytime with TS lit up by a miasma of neon and fluorescent colour. Many businesses have their HQ in Times Square – ABC Television, Conde Nast Publications, VH-1, Viacom, Toys-R-Us and ESPN to name but a few. The NASDAQ market site has the largest video screen in the world and dominates an area loaded with electronic ticker-tape and moving adverts.

There are lots of things to do in TS and we found ourselves drawn too it on several occasions during our stay. There is no shortage of restaurants. Planet Hollywood has a franchise whilst TGI Friday looked a popular choice. The problem we encountered was the lack of choice for vegetarians. We ended up at an Italian Trattoria where we had a decent meal of pasta and pizza for $100. All corners of the Globe are represented and we noted an Indian, Chinese as well as several Italian restaurants although, truth be known, we suspected that whatever it was you fancied to eat, you were almost certain to find it available in TS somewhere. This is not to mention the numerous one-man bands that hug the sidewalks selling hotdogs, pretzels and all of those other foods you’d expect to find.

Of course, you’ll find shops in this pantheon of Capitalism and plenty of ‘em. We used TS to buy our gifts for family and friends and there are plenty selling giftware and memorabilia. The more interesting shops come on a grand scale. We went into Toys-R-Us on a couple of occasions, managing to dodge the photographer who was capturing entrants to take the family snap shot and re-sell it back for some exorbitant price in dollars. Everything is bigger and better in Toys-R-us with several floors of a latter day Nirvana for children. We also made it to the Hershey store although we did expect to see a giant chocolate bar outside. There wasn’t one! (really must write to those lovely guide book producers).

Not far away is the world famous Macy’s department store. Macy’s takes up an entire block in its own right and is like a more Regal version of Debenham’s or any other department store you can think of. There were some huge flower displays when we were in Macy's whilst the various floors came with everything from the usual mix of Gentlemen’s, children’s and women’s clothing to numerous food outlets including a MacDonald’s fast food affair which we visited for a milkshake. You’ll also find a toilet in Macy’s which is NY’s best kept secret, what with there being so few of them! The sidewalks themselves are home to many street peddlers selling posters and prints of New York. We did find these stalls interesting and a welcome departure from the more routine shops. In saying that, we didn’t end up buying anything which may well have been down to our reluctance to barter. Well, we are reserved English folk goddamit.

As mentioned in a previous opinion about New York in general, I did catch a glimpse of Mr Robbie Williams doing an interview in the MTV building. Yep, he still didn’t recognise me though....

Times Square has so much to see and do. The Empire State Building stands proudly close by whilst The Chrysler and The Woolworth Buildings add a concrete sense of beauty to the horizon. Grand Central Station is just a few blocks from the hub of TS and a reasonable walk for passengers alighting for the heart of New York. There are plenty of stage shows to go and see and we did consider going to see “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” but at $400 for the 4 of us, it seemed a bit unreasonable in terms of cost. There are several movie theatres and dotted throughout are diners, restaurants and a huge Madam Tussaud’s in case you fancy seeing a few more dummies.

You can find a number of hotels right in the middle of it all including The Hilton and The Sheraton to name but two. Accommodation in NY in general is plentiful and with the pound doing so well against the dollar and flights to NY being advertised in this weekend’s press for around £350 then now is a great time to go to the capital where it’s all happening.

Times Square will draw you in like a moth to a light, especially when it’s all lit up at night and a blaze of neon. Remember to take your wallet or purse with you because there are a million and one ways to spent your dollars here. Enjoy it, take a cab ride back to your hotel and, of course, get that obligatory snap at slow exposure of Times Square at night so that you can tell everyone that you’ve been there when you get back home.

Thanks for reading

Marandina

Associated web sites:

http://www.madame-tussauds.com
http://www.cityguideny.com
http://www.nytab.com

*Big Apple comes from the horse racing writing column established in the 1920’s by John Fitzgerald. He overheard New York stablehands referring to city horse tracks as the Big Apple and the term stuck courtesy of “Around the Big Apple” featuring in The Morning Telegraph.

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