by VR Macbeth
Shuffling down Broadway
through the crush of tourists gaping into TV studios
and
craning their necks to the latest giant billboard,
its hard to remember that this
gaudy enclave was once littered with sex shops
and suffered the highest crime rate
in New York City. While Times Square has changed
drastically in the past decade, a
reputation for razzle dazzle and spectacle attached
itself to the area from its very
inception.
Formerly Longacre Square, Times Square entered
the nation's consciousness in 1904, when it was
renamed after the New York Times building that
became the cornerstone of the new district. Just
a few short years before, the crossroads of Broadway
and 7th Avenue was considered a dangerous place
where only those of ill repute would venture.
As the famous Gangs of New York's hold on the
Five Points slowly passed away so did the notoriety
of the lower districts. Throughout New York's
history the slow migration of the wealthy further
up Manhattan meant that the places they vacated
became the new slums. Longacre Square started
as a few brownstones erected by a property developer
who saw potential for a thriving new 'uptown'
neighborhood to cater to the upper middle class.
People thronged to the area but with them came
what they had fled: the brothels, pickpockets
and streetwalkers that proliferated only a few
blocks south moved in as well. Slowly the area
turned itself over and became a tightly held Red
Light district with dozens of brothels. No sooner
would one fold than another three or four would
open. Police and public officials did little to
correct the situation. The very people who complained
were often those who lounged on a brothel's steps
waiting for their favorite lady. Brothel owners
paid off police and officials to turn a blind
eye to the public outcry.
But in 1895 Longacre Square had a new tenant.
Buoyed by ambitious dreams, newly arrived immigrant
Oscar Hammerstein developed his plan for a complete
entertainment complex. Occupying an entire block
on 42nd Street, the Olympia held three theatres
and a remarkable roof garden. The Olympia flourished,
and within two years Hammerstein had built two
more theatres that were linked together by the
glass enclosed Paradise Roof Garden, an exotic
garden populated with swans, monkeys and a tinkling
waterfall as a backdrop for diners and dancers.
While Hammerstein was not the first to erect theatres
in the district, his decidedly high class expansion
did help a proliferation of new theatres on The
Great White Way, so named for Broadway's constantly
beckoning light show. The vaudeville circuit thrived
alongside legitimate theatre. Early showstoppers
who performed on Times Square stages were Fred
and Adele Astaire, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin
and Dorothy and Lillian Gish, among countless
others.
In 1904 the New York Times held a New Year's Eve
celebration to commemorate their successful lobbying
effort to rename Longacre Square. Although the
newspaper outgrew their new building within a
decade, the building was the second tallest in
Manhattan and symbolized a new, vibrant era. Every
year since, hundreds of thousands of people gather
and wait for hours in the cold of a New York winter
for the famous ball drop ceremony. It is estimated
that one billion people around the world now watch
the tradition via satellite.
During the First World War, Times Square became
the premiere theatre district in the nation. During
the 1914-15 season alone 113 productions were
staged at 42 theatres, all within the three avenue,
13 block area. The year 1915 also saw the premiere
of D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. Once
a novelty amusement, film was now becoming a mainstay
of popular culture and with it came a new growth
of film theatres in and around the square.
With the onset of the Great Depression, the theatres
and restaurants clustered around Times Square
initially seemed immune from the troubles. People
were drawn to the playhouses for moments of escape
from their new, grim realities. But as the Depression
grew, the fortunes of the theatre owners plummeted,
and many were forced to sell or close their theatres.
The theatres were converted to show popular and
vastly cheaper fare: the silver screen fantasies
that poured out of Hollywood. Ironically, a slew
of lavish Busby Berkley musicals were centered
around the enduring stage magic of Times Square,
where anyone with a dream and an ounce of hard
work could end up being a Broadway star.
The reality was far different. Businesses needed
something to draw people in and Times Square's
era of vice was born. It was predominantly during
the 1960's and 1970's that live nude shows, erotic
bookstores, and X-rated movie houses occupied
the area. By 1975 Times Square was described as
a 'sinkhole' by many newspapers. With the new
commerce came a sky-rocketing crime rate that
turned Times Square into one of the most dangerous
places in the city. Tourists stayed away. In the
1980's, businesses and public officials began
to band together to change the square's reputation.
With a combination of new legislation and building
condemnation, Times Square began to reverse its
decline. By 1993 there were 36 adult establishments,
down from a high of 140 in the late 1970's.
By the late 1990's, Times Square was a symbol
again for the vibrancy of Manhattan--it is the
only zone in the city where tenants are required
to display big, bright signs. The NASDAQ sign
is one flashier example, costing over $37 million
to build: at 37 feet high it is the largest LED
sign in the world. With 27, residents and an estimated
26 million annual visitors each year, Times Square
has changed a lot since it's inauguration 100
years ago. Part of the change is what has been
called the 'Disneyfication' of Times Square. Walking
down Broadway you can stop to shop in a Toy's
R Us while on your way to a matinee of Disney's
The Lion King on 42nd Street, a far cry from the
area's squalid years but entirely within the area's
tradition of entertainment and commerce.
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