500px Photo ID: 69665117 - www.astphotodesign.com

Alex Teuscher / 500px


Love it or hate it, the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Ave (aka Times Square) pumps out the NYC of the global imagination – yellow cabs, golden arches, soaring skyscrapers and razzle-dazzle Broadway marquees. It's right here that Al Jolson 'made it' in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, that photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt famously captured a lip-locked sailor and nurse on V-J Day in 1945, and that Alicia Keys and Jay-Z waxed lyrically about the concrete jungle.

For several decades, the dream here was a sordid, wet one. The economic crash of the early 1970s led to a mass exodus of corporations from Times Sq. Billboard niches went dark, stores shut and once-grand hotels were converted into SRO (single-room occupancy) dives, attracting the poor and the destitute. What was once an area bathed in light and showbiz glitz became a dirty den of drug dealers and crime. While the adjoining Theater District survived, its respectable playhouses shared the streets with porn cinemas, strip clubs and adult bookstores.

That all changed with tough-talking mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who in the 1990s forced out the skin flicks, boosted police numbers and lured in a wave of 'respectable' retail chains, restaurants and attractions. By the new millennium, Times Square had gone from X-rated to G-rated, drawing around 50 million visitors annually. On any given night, with the square flooded with light from wall-to-wall LCD screens and the sidewalks packed with people, it can feel like all of them are there at once.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Bank of America Tower

0.15 MILES

Designed by Cook & Fox Architects, the 58-floor Bank of America Tower is famed for its striking crystal shape, piercing 255ft spire, and enviable green…

2. Garment District

0.2 MILES

Otherwise known as the Fashion District, this thread-obsessed territory might look like an unremarkable stretch of designers' offices and wholesale and…

3. Le Carrousel

0.25 MILES

Among Bryant Park's attractions is this French-inspired, Brooklyn-made carousel, with over a dozen delightfully baroque animals you can ride to the sounds…

4. Bryant Park

0.25 MILES

European coffee kiosks, alfresco chess games, summer film screenings and winter ice skating: it's hard to believe that this leafy oasis was a crime-ridden…

5. New York Public Library

0.31 MILES

Loyally guarded by 'Patience' and 'Fortitude' (the marble lions overlooking Fifth Ave), this beaux-arts show-off is one of NYC's best free attractions…

6. Brill Building

0.34 MILES

This humble-looking building is widely considered the most important generator of popular songs in the Western world. By 1962, more than 160 music…

7. Diamond District

0.34 MILES

Like Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, the Diamond District is a world unto itself. Best experienced on weekdays, it's an industrious whirl of Hasidic Jewish…

8. Top of the Rock

0.42 MILES

When it comes to views in New York City, you’ll be spoiled for choice. The One World Observatory may have the edge for height, and the Empire State…