Formerly named Longacre Square, it was renamed in April 1904 after the New York Times moved its headquarters to the Times Building, now called One Times Square.
Times Square stretches between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, and between West 42nd and West 47th Streets. A subway station at the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway marks the name. Prior to 1904, the area, a busy horse and buggy intersection, was called Longacre Square, after the carriage district in London.
Longacre Square became Times Square once the New York Times built its headquarters there, moving from 41 Park Row in downtown Manhattan to their Gothic skyscraper (25 stories!) in January, 1905. The newspaper launched the traditional New Year’s Eve ball drop from the top of their building, but by 1913 they had outgrown their new digs and moved to 229 West 43rd Street. The Times has since moved again; the building is now known as the Times Square building.
Bill Clinton eulogised the Times Square of old, recalling the old mix of prostitutes and colourful characters as “romantic” and “fascinating”. Here are 10 facts about Times Square shared by Telegraph.
A vehicle driving through New York City’s bustling Times Square plowed into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring 22 other people during Thursday’s lunchtime rush, authorities said.
The driver, identified by police as 26-year-old Richard Rojas, was driving down Seventh Avenue in Manhattan when he made a sudden U-turn, mounted a sidewalk and drove at a “high rate” for several blocks, striking unsuspecting pedestrians along the way, authorities said.
An 18-year-old woman was hit and killed, and her 13-year-old sister was injured, authorities said. Police did not release information about the other victims. Read more at Washington Post.