Times Square

You are standing in the brightest place in New York, where the screens never go dark. A little over a century ago this was called Longacre Square, a district of stables and carriage workshops. It owes its new name to a newspaper.

1Named for a paper

In 1904 The New York Times moved its headquarters to a newly built tower at the south end of the square, today's One Times Square. That same year the city renamed the place in its honor. The subway arrived the same year and, with it, the theaters: Broadway became shorthand for the musical.

2The New Year's ball

To celebrate the new year, the paper staged fireworks from its tower. When they were banned, it came up with something else: on the night of December 31, 1907, a lighted ball was lowered from the building's flagpole for the first time. The tradition carries on every New Year's Eve, before an enormous crowd.

On August 14, 1945, as the end of the war with Japan was announced, a sailor kissed a woman in this square and Alfred Eisenstaedt caught it on camera.

Times Square went through a long decline in the 1970s and 1980s, and a sweeping transformation in the 1990s. Since 2009, much of the space has been pedestrian-only, something unthinkable a few decades ago.

3What to look for

• One Times Square, the narrow tower at the south end, with the ball's flagpole.
• The red steps above the TKTS booth, perfect for watching the square from above.
• The statue of Father Francis Duffy, the military chaplain who gives Duffy Square its name.