Times Square is located at the intersection of Broadway, which runs diagonally across the rectangular grid of Manhattan streets, and 7th Avenue: because of the unusual plan, the square was nicknamed the "bow tie." It is best known as a place where a huge number of illuminated advertisements are concentrated, to which a series of media screens have been added in recent years: thanks to this, it is very popular with tourists, it is the most visited attraction not only in New York, but also throughout the United States and even the world (40 million people a year) - although its primacy is contested by the Strip Boulevard in Las Vegas. It is there that the "ball of time" is released every New Year's Eve at midnight. However, the location of the square in the very center of the city, among Broadway theaters and other objects of the entertainment industry, as well as between the Grand Central Station and the Port Authority bus station, makes traffic there far from only tourist: of the 330,000 people who visit there every day, 56% - residents of the New York metropolitan area. While Times Square occupies just 0.1% of the metropolitan area, it provides 11% of its GDP and 10% of jobs, and 21% of all hotel rooms in the city are located there.
For a long time, Times Square was oversaturated with cars and people, so, in particular, it broke records for the number of accidents involving pedestrians: 137% more than on surrounding avenues. Also, the area was distinguished by gas pollution and a difficult criminal situation. In 2009, then-mayor Michael Bloomberg closed seven blocks of Broadway, including Times Square, to cars (of course, they did not block the avenues and streets that cross it). This did not affect the efficiency of car traffic, since the closed area is duplicated by the Manhattan "lattice", while the resulting pedestrian zone has become even more popular than before, thanks to the opportunity for citizens and tourists to relax there or take part in various events (in Times - the square is held 350 a year).
In 2010, Snøhetta received an order for the reconstruction of the square, in 2014 the first phase of the project was completed, in 2016 - the second, and on April 19, 2017, its grand opening took place. In 2000, pedestrian space accounted for 37% of the surface there, at the moment - 66%: with a total area of the "bow tie" of 21,000 m2, pedestrians are given almost 14,000 m2. Over the years, significant statistics have already been collected: incidents with pedestrian injuries decreased by 40%, car collisions - by 15%, criminal activity in the Times Square area - by 20%; air pollution dropped by 60%. City guests and local residents overwhelmingly approve of the changes (about 90%).
The Snøhetta project (budget - $ 55 million, including the reconstruction of utility networks under the square) gave Times Square a laconic solution - there is already a lot of variety: the famous neon and LED billboards, the red stage of the box office, the recruiting center for the armed forces with a luminous facade in the form of the US flag. Therefore, all the "visual debris", side stone, etc. were removed. The pavement was made of two types of concrete blocks, equipped in some places with steel circles the size of a coin: they reflect the lights of advertising in the dark (this pavement was also used on the sidewalks of the adjacent sections of 7th Avenue). Pedestrian traffic on the faster and slower streams is separated by 15-meter granite benches. Their different configurations correspond to one function or another (you can sit on them, lean against them, etc.); they also hide the contacts of the electrical and broadcasting infrastructure, which make it much easier to carry out any events on the square (previously, trucks with generators, broadcasting equipment, etc.) were needed.
