"Times Square Red, Times Square Blue "

by Samuel Delany

New York University Press, 1999.

Reviewed by Jim Hoopes

In his newest book, "Times Square Red, Times Square Blue," Samuel Delany, weighs in with two essays on the controversy surrounding the redevelopment of New York City's Times Square, once infamous for its plethora of sex oriented businesses, into upper-middle-class dwellings, tourist hotels, and theaters. Delany's view is based on over thirty years of his being a habitué of the area and its businesses.

In the first essay, "Times Square Blue," Delany documents the people and the activities he encountered, particularly in the porn movie houses at 42nd St. & 8th Ave. He had sex with many men in the theaters and maintained contact with a number of them for several years. Interwoven with accounts of his sexual experiences, he explores the character of the neighborhood and its social structure.

Delany makes the point that these were places where regular people from all walks of life intersected and benefited from their interactions. By Delany's estimation 80-85% of the patrons of the movie houses were straight and mostly interested in masturbation fantasies but, at times, enjoyed the attentions of Gay men, such as the hairy Italian plumber with the one-inch dick or Arly, the Hispanic, who needed to ejaculate five or six times to feel satisfied.

"A glib wisdom holds that people like this just don't want relationships. They have 'problems with intimacy.' But the salient fact is: these were relationships...Intimacy for most of us is a condition that endures, however often repeated, for minutes or for hours. And these all had their many intimate hours."

Delany attempts to show throughout this essay that interclass contact and diversity of the neighborhood were essential to maintaining a lively and rich experience for those who visited or lived there. He says there must be a place for those on the margins of society to interact in relative safety. Delany does not lament the loss of the Times Square sex businesses so much as he documents a place and a time, and makes a case for the necessity of someplace like it.

Delany's second essay "Times Square Red" evolved from an academic lecture on the Times Square Redevelopment Project. Delany's erudition, observational skills, and keen analytical acumen are clearly demonstrated in this work.

Delany posits that "given the mode of capitalism under which we live, life is at its most rewarding, productive and pleasant when large numbers of people understand, appreciate, and seek out interclass contact and communication conducted in a mode of good will." In this light, the Times Square redevelopment Project "entails the 'redevelopment' of a highly diversified neighborhood with working-class residences and small human services."

Delany delves into the macroeconomics of the project, suggesting that the redevelopment is little more than an opportunity for large corporations to make huge sums of money whether or not the project succeeds in making Times Square a living, breathing community.

This essay is intellectually dense and not geared for the casual reader. Delany makes cogent observations about the effect of the redevelopment on New York in general. He discusses the perception of violence and decay in terms of small town mentality. He delves into the sociology when he discusses his uncle, a Black Republican judge, holding forth on Sundays about "prostitutes and perverts."

The redevelopment project has also spawned a restructuring of the legal code relating to sex. He believes that these new laws will impact Gays by suppressing the means through which Gay people make contact. Delany suggests that, for Gays, this is akin to making laws suppressing religious expression or limiting access to public accommodations for Blacks.

Delany's arguments in "Times Square Red" certainly cause one to think about societal and economic forces at work in America today. He believes that interclass contact is essential to a living, growing and dynamic society. He feels the homogenization of Times Square is a microcosm of what is happening across America, and that it is not good, especially for Gays, or any other group, that sit in the margins of American society.

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