Night never quite falls here. Screens several storeys high blaze with colour, crowds swirl in every direction, and the noise of the city rises all around.

The square

Times Square is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. Together with Duffy Square it makes a bowtie-shaped plaza five blocks long, between 42nd and 47th Streets. It is the hub of the Theater District, where most Broadway theatres are found, and is lit day and night by digital billboards. About 330,000 people pass through every day, and some 50 million visitors come each year.

History

Once called Longacre Square, it was renamed in 1904 when The New York Times moved its headquarters to the new Times Building, now One Times Square. The New Year's Eve ball drop began there on 31 December 1907 and still draws over a million people. The TKTS booth, selling same-day discount tickets for Broadway and off-Broadway shows, has stood here since June 1973.

• ✓
  TKTS booth Same-day theatre discounts.
• ✓
  One Times Square Home of the ball drop.
• ✓
  Duffy Square With a statue of George M. Cohan.