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New York City Sights – Times Square
By Brian | May 9, 2009 | Share on Facebook
This week’s installment of New York City Sights features “the heart of little old New York,” Times Square. Interestingly enough, this takes some explaining. There are a few pictures involved, so I’ve put them below the fold to save some space.
This is probably the most iconic picture of Times Square (unlike the other photos in this post, I didn’t shoot this one myself – it was pilfered from here. The famous Coke sign:
The thing is, this isn’t Times Square. It’s Duffy Square – one block north of Times Square. Walking through both Duffy Square and Times Square on my commute home every day, you’d be amazed how many tourists point to the top of this building and claim to know where the New Year’s Ball drops when, in actuality, it drops on top of the Dow Jones Building (formerly the New York Times building – hence the name) a block away.
At any rate, this feature is supposed to be about current pictures of New York, so here we go. First, a current picture of Duffy Square (the old Coke sign went hi-tech about five years ago):
Next, a picture of the actual Times Square:
The “I can see where the New Year’s Ball drops” comment is even funnier this year, since they’ve actually decided to leave the New Year’s Ball on top of the Dow Jones building all year long. If you look closely at the above picture, you’ll see “2009” in lights (just above the Toshiba ad), and the famous ball on it’s famous pole directly above it. I heard a rumor that it’s up there because they’re going to drop it more than once a year now (July 4th, maybe?).
Anyway, any time I hear some guy trying to impress his girlfriend with knowledge of where the New Year’s Ball is, I always feel the temptation to spin him around and show him the ball itself on the building behind him. But, following the unwritten rule of New Yorkers (don’t make eye contact, let alone talk, to strangers unless you have to), I just chuckle to myself and keep on walking.
Also in the above picture, although really small, is the famous “Times Square Ticker,” which has carried such famous messages as “War is Over,” “Kennedy Assassinated,” and “Planes Crash into World Trade Center.” Here are a couple of closer shots:
One from in front of the building:
And one from the side (with a nice “Welcome” message for all of you):
Finally, we have a picture of the block between Times Square and Duffy Square:
I remember seeing a documentary on Times Square years ago, and they asked one of the advertisers why anyone would pay multiple millions of dollars for a single advertisement, no matter how massively huge the sign itself was. His answer? “The photographs.” The number of tourists’ pictures, television shows, movies, newsreels, and who knows what else that inadvertently capture these signs in the background makes advertisers dance with glee.
This particular angle also features Times Square’s memorial to the current recession: the Virgin megastore, prominently displayed on the right side of the picture, has closed and is now available for lease. Looks like we’ll be getting a new sign one day soon, huh?
Well, there you have it. Times Square, circa May of 2009. Enjoy!!
Topics: New York, New York | 3 Comments »
If you took the wrong picture, you’ll have to come back. I’ll take you around & show you what’s what…
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