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On April 8, 1904, officiated by Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr., the area known as Longacre Square was renamed Times Square following the arrival of The New York Times to the square. Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs had moved the paper's operations to a new tower on 42nd Street in the middle of the square. Ochs persuaded Mayor McClellan to build a subway stop there and rename it Times Square. Just three weeks later, the first advertisement appeared on the side of a bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway.
The Times moved out of the tower in 1913, although it remains in the neighborhood. Later the Allied Chemical Building and now known as 1 Times Square, the tower is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop. On January 1, 1907, a ball signifying New Year's DayNew Year's Day is the first day of the year, in the Gregorian calendar. In modern times, it is January 1. In most countries, it is a holiday. It is still celebrated as a religious holy day on January 14 by those who still follow the Julian calendar such a was first dropped at Times Square, and ever since the Square has been the site of the main New Year's celebration in New York City. On this night hundreds of thousands of people congregate to watch the Waterford crystal ball being lowered to the ground marking the new year.
Times Square quickly grew as a cultural hub full of theaterTheater ( American English) or Theatre ( British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, muss, music halls, and fancy hotels. "Times Square quickly became New York's agora, a place to gather both to await great tidings and to celebrate them, whether a World Series or a presidential election," writes James Traub in The Devil's Playground: A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square. Names such as Irving BerlinIrving Berlin ( May 11, 1888 September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist. Born Israel Isidore Baline in Tyumen, Siberia, he emigrated to the United States in 1893 with the rest of his family. Following the death of his father in 1896, Irving, Fred AstaireFred Astaire ( May 10, 1899 June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American film and Broadway ballroom dancer and actor. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films. Astaire" was a name taken, and Charlie ChaplinFor the Jamaican musician named Charlie Chaplin, see Charlie Chaplin (singer). Sir Charles "Charlie" Spencer Chaplin ( April 16, 1889 December 25, 1977) was the most famous actor in early to mid Hollywood cinema, and later also a notable director. His pri were closely associated with Times Square in the 1910s and 1920s.
The atmosphere changed with the onset of the Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in the United States following Black Thursday, the Wall Street panic of October 1929. On October 24, 1929, share prices on Wall Street collapsed catastrophically, setting off a chain of bankruptc during the 1930sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Link Trainer invented Sc. Times Square became a neighborhood full of " peep shows", erotic all-night movie houses, and stores selling cheap tourist merchandise. It was considered a dangerous neighborhood by many. The seediness of Times Square was a famous symbol of New York City's danger and corruption during the period from the 1960s until the 1990s. Influential and dark films such as Midnight Cowboy and Taxi Driver had many scenes in Times Square.
In the mid-1990s, Mayor Rudy Giuliani (1994-2002) led the effort to clean up the area, including closing up sex shops, increasing security, and opening more tourist-friendly attractions. The cleaning process began when the local government issued an injunction against the tight clustering of the porn shops in the 42nd Street area. Many of the sex shops closed or moved to industrial areas in Brooklyn or Queens. More recently, such establishments have been shut down and more up-scale establishments have opened there.