Every year, people from all over the world flock to Times Square in New York. This place brings multimillion-dollar income to its city. Do you know the stories behind the glamorous look of a New York business card?
Times Square in New York is one of the city’s leading attractions. Its dazzling billboards attract thousands of tourists from all over the world. But this is more than just a place of bright beauty and dazzling light. Times Square has a rich history that is filled with interesting facts. We bring to your attention 9 famous stories of this square, shedding light on an overseas attraction.
Times Square in New York: thanks to the newspaper
History claims that this famous place was named after the newspaper. Initially, the square had a different name, but later acquired the name One Times Square in honor of the publishing office located nearby. Nevertheless, the editorial staff of the publication moved from the square and is now located in the building of The New-York Times, which is located on 40th and 8th Avenues.
New Year's Eve in Times Square New York: First Fireworks
For the first time, Americans celebrated New Year on the square in 1904, when the Times office presented the opening of the company. An event of this magnitude attracted about 200,000 people. For the next three years, the square was a traditional New Year's celebration venue. And in 1907, the famous electric ball was installed. His movement had a stunning visual effect, which symbolized the first second of the New Year. This happened at the moment when he went down the flagpole, and delighted the people below.
Who made the ball for the holiday?
Times Square in New York, the photo of which you see in the article, was decorated with an unusual glass ball for the New Year . As already mentioned, the design was installed in 1907. Then the ball was made of wood, metal and covered with many lamps. The very first ball weighed 700 pounds or 317 kg, and its diameter was not more than one and a half meters.
A modern ball is dotted with crystals. Now it weighs more than 5 tons, and in diameter is 3.6 meters. The body of the ball is made of an aluminum frame. The ball was inlaid with a huge amount of crystals. It was created by the Irish glass company Waterford Crystals. Engineers used multi-color LEDs and reflective crystals of a triangular shape. He descends from a flagpole 23 meters high.
Times Square: timeless
The thing is that on 8th Avenue, tourists can find fragments of old New York. Among them are five 4-story houses that are clearly opposed to the present time, the rapid success and development of Times Square. Nearby are small souvenir shops, modern grocery stores, chic restaurants and cozy pubs. Modernity coexists perfectly with antiquity.
NASDAQ Screen - The World's Largest LED Display
In one of his interviews, the head of NASDAQ, a leading US stock exchange, said the shield was worth $ 37 million. There are about 50 such billboards in Times Square. The authorities in New York require all buildings in the area to be decorated with them.
Zipper as part of American history
Once a huge screen was installed in the square, which the Americans affectionately called the "Zipper." Translated from English, this word means "lightning." Initially, it consisted of 15,000 light bulbs, which were controlled by a specialized system. Each frame that Zipper broadcasted was a message in which news headlines were presented. The first such announcement announced to the inhabitants of the United States the victory of Herbert Hoover in the presidential election in 1928. And in August 1945, “Zipper” attracted a crowd of thousands when he showed the news about the surrender of Japan in World War II.
New Victory Theater: show all year round
At the beginning of the 20th century, namely in 1900, Oscar Hommerstein the First built an institution called the “Republic of the Theater”. The building regularly changed leaders. And in the 30s of the twentieth century, even burlesque was performed in this institution. But in 1990, New York authorities occupied this building, renaming it “New Victory”. Now there all year round families with children are offered to watch shows of all kinds of performing arts. As a rule, these are dance programs, circus shows, puppet shows, opera and so on.
Most visited place
You might not have guessed, but Times Square in New York (USA) is one of the most visited places in the world. Only the official site of the square is visited by about half a million people every day. And about 140 million citizens and tourists go through the square every day. High volume of traffic annually generates a profit of $ 5 million among entertainment, hotel and retail sales. For every dollar a tourist spent in New York, Times Square accounts for 22 cents.
No smoking area
It turns out Times Square in New York has been completely cleared of tobacco smoke. In February 2011, the Guardian Publishing House reported that the area was banned for tobacco smoke lovers. Smokers are fined $ 50 for smoking in the area. Therefore, before you smoke, think about whether to do it. After all, $ 50 (a fine) in New York can be spent on much more interesting things: in a restaurant, boutique, at an exhibition, in a movie theater and so on.