Times Square Can Take A Bow As Its Re-Birth Comes to Fruition

The final event of the 30 year-long project to re-vitalize Times Square will take place next month as a brand new, 40-story glassy skyscraper opens its doors at 11 Times Square, at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue. The plan was first brought about by the then Mayor Edward Koch in 1980, who finally announced, after years of false starts, and complaints the long needed rejuvenation of one of the most famous 13 acres of real estate in the world.

Over the past thirty years the plan survived through three mayors, four governors, two real estate booms and two different recessions. Cynical New Yorkers derided the plan as too “grandiose” while others, even today, dream of the old Times Square with nostalgia, not quite remembering the crime, dirt and sleaziness of the area before the re-birth really kicked in.