Search Results for: times square

FAO Schwarz is wrapping up negotiations for a Christmas opening in Times Square. [CO] My Micro NYC has finished stacking its modular housing pods. [Field Condition] Jennifer Lawrence spotted looking at an apartment at Tribeca’s 443 Greenwich. [NYDN] The 20 biggest power players in NYC real estate. Norman Foster, Dbox, Soo K. Chan, Annabelle Selldorf and […]

Real Estate Trends

June 18, 2015

1970s Times Square Getting the HBO Treatment; ‘Subway Symphony’ Unlikely to Ever Happen

Tour a memory-filled West Village studio. [Apartment Therapy] Sources say Mayor de Blasio will cut cars in Central and Prospect Parks this summer. [Capital NY] The seedy Times Square of the 1970s might become an HBO show. [Gothamist] Tompkins Square Park got an outhouse-looking shed that’s actually a place for writers to use an old-school […]

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April 30, 2015

STOMP Is Leaving the East Village for Times Square; Beware of Your Resume Font

Hahaha vs. Hehehe. You’ll never text-laugh the same again after reading this. [New Yorker] After 21 years at the Orpheum Theatre, STOMP is leaving the East Village over “poor theater conditions.” [Bowery Boogie] Do your good deed for the month and help count how many people pass through Washington Square Park. The data will go […]

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Andy Warhol’s 1960s Screen Tests to Be Played on Times Square Billboards

From a 1965 screen test of Edie Sedgwick, via Andy Warhol Museum

April 29, 2015

Andy Warhol’s 1960s Screen Tests to Be Played on Times Square Billboards

Plans for a New York City branch of the Andy Warhol Museum may have been scrapped, but starting Friday the pop artist will take over Times Square for three minutes every night of the month. As Gothamist reports, Times Square Arts will show Warhol's rarely-seen 1960s Screen Tests on the electronic billboards every night at 11:57 p.m. as part of their monthly Midnight Moment series. Warhol's 500 Screen Tests are "revealing portraits of hundreds of different individuals," both famous and not, frequent visitors to the Factory and newcomers. Those on the Times Square roster include Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Lou Reed, Twist Jim Rosenquist, Harry Smith, and Edie Sedgwick.
More info here

Events & Things To Do

REVEALED: SL Green to Build Another Times Square Spectacular at 719 Seventh Avenue

Image courtesy of Akueous Design

April 10, 2015

REVEALED: SL Green to Build Another Times Square Spectacular at 719 Seventh Avenue

By Ondel Hylton

Here's our first look at what commercial heavyweights SL Green have in mind for a small Times Square corner at 719 Seventh Avenue and West 48th Street. Building permits filed earlier this month call for a four-story, 9,000 square-foot retail building designed by TPG Architecture. Demolition permits were filed back in December and the doomed three-story structure is already shrouded in construction netting and scaffolding. The site also shares its Seventh Avenue block-front with Witkoff's upcoming 40-story Marriott Edition Hotel that will flash one of the largest LED displays in the city.
Find out more on the project here

April 9, 2015

VIDEO: Meet the ‘Pimps and Hos’ of Seedy ’70s Times Square

Although Times Square has transformed into a commercial beast filled to the brim with advertising, its very sordid and seedy past is certainly not lost on us. One man who found himself in the midst of the area when it was considered the worst block in town was Sheldon Nadelman. From 1972 to 1980, Nadelman worked at Terminal Bar—the city's “roughest bar" by many accounts—directly across from the Port Authority. Between pouring drinks, Nadelman found himself snapping photos of the folks who passed through. Over his decade-long stint, he accumulated a collection of more than 1,500 photos. His subjects were diverse ranging from actors to cooks to business people to tourists to, of course, the pimps and prostitutes that roamed the surrounding streets.
Watch the video here

History

Goodyear Wanted to Create a Giant Conveyor Belt to Carry People Between Grand Central and Times Square

Via NYCVintage

April 3, 2015

Goodyear Wanted to Create a Giant Conveyor Belt to Carry People Between Grand Central and Times Square

Those shuttle trains between Grand Central and Times Square can certainly get crowded during rush hour, so imagine bypassing the underground connection and hopping on a giant conveyor belt in clear, gondola-like cars? We're not exactly sure if this sounds more or less appealing, but it's exactly what the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company proposed in 1951, hoping to transport 60,000 New Yorkers daily a third faster than the subway thanks to a continuous loop.
More on this never-built conveyor belt

March 26, 2015

The Knickerbocker: Times Square’s First Luxury Hotel Is Reborn as a Modern Landmark

When John Jacob Astor IV built the Knickerbocker Hotel in 1906, he launched a generation of luxury Times Square hotels. The Beaux Arts masterpiece attracted the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, John D. Rockefeller, and Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. It was the birthplace of the martini and the site where the sale of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees took place. But after just 15 years, the hotel's success declined just as fast as it emerged and it was repurposed as an office space, later becoming the Newsweek Building. Today, though, the landmark is reclaiming its title of ultimate luxury hotel under its original moniker. After a two-year, $240 million modern renovation, the Knickerbocker offers 330 guest rooms, a rooftop bar and lounge with the ultimate view of the Times Square ball drop, and a foodie destination restaurant from chef Charlie Palmer.
Uncover the history and future of the Knickerbocker

March 19, 2015

Times Square Might Become a Giant Forest; New Yorkers Still Read Actual Books

A botanist and urban ecologist launched a Kickstarter campaign to plant a pop-up forest in Times Square. [Grist] How did the Michelin tire company become the world’s authority on restaurants? [MessyNessy Chic] Long Island City residents are not happy about the giant pink, Silly String-looking public art piece coming to their neighborhood. [Gothamist] Central Park just got 212 […]

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February 20, 2015

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How Times Square Operates; When 11th Avenue Was Death Avenue

Lower East Side artists jazz up containers and cement cubes from the East Houston construction. [Bowery Boogie] An interview with Times Square‘s Director of Production and Operations, who’s responsible for all on-the-ground activity in the Square. [Urban Omnibus] A Bushwick designer held a fashion show on the L train. [BK Paper] Stand on the historic stage of […]

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January 12, 2015

Four Architects Reimagine Times Square as a Place You Actually Want to Visit

While beloved by tourists, Times Square is easily the most hated destination for those who actually live in New York City. And it's no wonder: Shoulder to shoulder traffic, blinding lights, costumed (and un-costumed) characters, honking cars, and not a tree in sight—Times Square is pretty much your worst nightmare come to life. But could this congested consumerist hellscape one day become a place "Real New Yorkers" want to visit? Last year, the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility and vision42 held a competition asking designers and architects to rethink 42nd Street—from the East River to the Hudson River—as a "pedestrian-friendly, auto-free, sustainable boulevard." 200 submissions were received, and the institute has just announced the four finalists.
See the four finalists here

Architecture And Design

January 12, 2015

New Public Art Piece Will Have All of Times Square Yawning at Once

And not out of boredom. Sebastian Errazuriz has created a new public art piece for Times Square that is the antithesis of the high-energy, fast-paced neighborhood. It's a close-up, black-and-white, three-minute video of the artist looking around and yawning that plays on 50 digital billboards throughout Times Square, which triggers a domino effect of sleepy, open mouthed gaping, since we all know yawns are contagious. Errazuriz's idea was to instill "a pause in the city that never goes to sleep," which informs the title of the work. The yawn-athon takes place every night through January 17th at 11:47pm from 42nd to 47th Streets between Broadway and 7th Avenue.
More (yawn) details ahead

Events & Things To Do

December 16, 2014

Times Square Is Getting a Heart-Beating Urban Drum for Valentine’s Day

As New Yorkers, we don't really think of Times Square as a romantic location, but for Valentine's Day 2015 we might just stand corrected. Brooklyn-based architecture firm Stereotank was announced as the winner of the annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design contest, a public art competition held for the past seven years by the Times Square Alliance and the Architectural League of New York. Stereotank's HEARTBEAT installation is an interactive, heart-beating, glowing urban drum.
More on HEARTBEAT ahead

December 15, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Jean Nouvel’s MoMA Tower Gets a Teaser Site; New Extell Mega Tower Coming to Times Square

Jean Nouvel’s MoMA tower at 53 West 53rd Street is back on track and it’s got a teaser site. [Curbed] Extell may bring a mega tall hotel tower to Times Square. [NYDN] Gowanus is also hot with hotel developments. There’s a seven-story project joining the already sizable list of accommodations on the rise. [DNA Info] You’re not […]

Real Estate Trends

August 27, 2014

New Exhibition at the Skyscraper Museum Reveals Unrealized Times Square Designs

What's now a Disney Land-like mix of big-brand stores like M&M's and Hershey's, the televised location for Good Morning America, and home to everyone's favorite costumed characters, was once "the worst block in town." During the 1970's and 80's, Times Square was filled with peep shows and porn theaters and riddled with crime. In 1984, in an effort to build taller and reduce crime while preserving the frantic energy and cultural heritage of the area, a design competition was organized by the Municipal Art Society and the National Endowment for the Arts. The debate among architects, developers, and preservationists came after plans were revealed for four skyscrapers near the intersection of 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue. Now, a new exhibition at the downtown Skyscraper Museum will resurface the submissions from this design competition, exploring the history of Manhattan's most recognizable crossroads.
More about the fascinating new exhibit “Times Square, 1984: The Postmodern Moment”

July 25, 2014

NYC Events 7/25: Tour the Hy-Fi Mushroom Tower at PS1; Star in a Times Square Film

By Lori Zimmer

Midsummer adventure doesn't require leaving the city, and we've got plenty of fantastic local events picked out for you to enjoy over the next few days. This weekend is your chance to star in one of Time Square Arts' amazing Midnight Moment films (this one involves crawling!); to see three new plays in development by the National Theater Company on Governor's Island; and to tour Soho's only gay and lesbian museum for a powerhouse two person photo show. You can also get in on a game of handball with a bunch of artists, learn about how hive design can help bees, or get up close and personal with MoMA PS1's Young Architects winner on an exclusive tour hosted by the AIA New York.
All the best events here

June 27, 2014

NYC’s Billboards to be the Biggest in the USA: Even More Wattage Being Added to Times and Herald Squares

By Ondel Hylton

Billboard signs along Times Square, and now Herald Square, are growing ever bigger and brighter as LED displays become the top choice for developers of new supersigns. Projects such as the upcoming Mariott Edition, Vornado's Marriott Marquis renovation, and the revamping of the Herald Center all include LED displays that will be among the largest in the world. Though more expensive to install than the standard illuminated billboard, the light-emitting diode canvasses have the primary advantage of being eco-friendly by using less electricity and lasting 25 times longer than their incandescent alternatives. Their cost depends on size, complexity, and resolution; and may run upward of $1000 a square foot. But new technology in the past decade has cut the average price in half allowing for a brighter and more prolific future in the city.
See videos and images these eye-popping supersigns

Andy Cohen honored with a corner and trash can in Hudson Square

Photos by Emma Milligan

January 7, 2026

Andy Cohen honored with a corner and trash can in Hudson Square

New York City has long honored notable residents with street co-namings. Hudson Square is taking a different approach for TV personality Andy Cohen by commemorating the Bravo host with a trash can. The Hudson Square Business Improvement District paid tribute to Cohen, whose long-running show "Watch What Happens Live" has been filmed in the neighborhood since 2009, by renaming a garbage can on the corner of Vandam and Hudson Streets. Cohen attended the ribbon-cutting for the newly dubbed "Andy Cohen’s Corner," where he received a commemorative plaque and a key to the neighborhood that opens nothing.
Find out more

Policy

Macy’s Flower Show turns 50 with surrealist gardens and thousands of blooms in Herald Square

All photos courtesy of Macy’s, Inc.

May 1, 2025

Macy’s Flower Show turns 50 with surrealist gardens and thousands of blooms in Herald Square

The 50th annual Macy's Flower Show opened in Herald Square on Sunday, transforming the iconic department store into a breathtaking garden filled with thousands of lush plants and flowers. In honor of its semicentennial, this year’s event has been extended to three weeks of festivities, running through May 18. The show also features a partnership with YSL Beauty, offering an immersive experience that encourages guests to embrace freedom and celebrate the transformative power of nature.
Discover more

Events & Things To Do

Penn Station proposal moves Madison Square Garden, calls for classical train hall

Renderings courtesy of the Grand Penn Community Alliance, unless noted otherwise

March 11, 2025

Penn Station proposal moves Madison Square Garden, calls for classical train hall

A new proposal for the long-stalled redesign of Penn Station would move Madison Square Garden across the street and replace the existing station with a new train hall reminiscent of the its original grandeur. Spearheaded by architect and former chief urban designer for New York City Alexandros Washburn, the "Grand Penn" plan would create a public space the size of Bryant Park and a commuter train hall inspired by the original station, while relocating the famous arena across the street. The plan now joins two stalled proposals, including one from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and another from a private developer.
Learn more

December 2, 2024

Apple leases additional 61K square feet at 11 Penn Plaza

Apple has expanded its footprint in Vornado's Penn 11 office tower in Midtown, acquiring an additional 61,000 square feet. As reported by The Real Deal, the tech giant has signed a new lease that brings its total space in the building to 460,000 square feet and extends its occupancy through the expiration of Macy's lease in 2035. The company now spans the fourth through 14th floors of the 26-story tower, located at 11 Penn Plaza between West 31st and 32nd Streets on Seventh Avenue.
Find out more

Real Estate Trends

Sewer alligator sculpture in Union Square channels century-old New York City myth

All photos courtesy of Jane Kratochvil

October 18, 2023

Sewer alligator sculpture in Union Square channels century-old New York City myth

A new sculpture in Union Square Park plays on the century-old myth that alligators live in New York City's sewer system. Created by Swedish artist Alexander Klingspor in collaboration with Mollbrinks Gallery, "NYC Legend" is a bronze sculpture depicting a life-sized alligator sitting atop a manhole cover. The artwork is inspired by an urban legend that originated 100 years ago claiming New Yorkers set pet baby alligators loose in the sewers after they grew too large to handle. The installation is on display through June 2024.
learn more

Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is back on and bigger than before

Photo by editrixie on Flickr

October 4, 2023

Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade is back on and bigger than before