Times Square

Times Square functions as a town square, but is not geometrically a square; it is closer in shape to a bowtie, with two triangles emanating roughly north and south from 45th Street,^[21] where Seventh Avenue intersects Broadway. The area is bounded by West 42nd street, West 47th street, 7th Avenue, and Broadway. Broadway runs diagonally, crossing through the horizontal and vertical street grid of Manhattan laid down by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, and that intersection creates the "bowtie" shape of Times Square.^[22][23]

Times Square is the official name of the southern triangle,^[24] below 45th Street, but the northern triangle is officially Duffy Square. It was dedicated in 1937 to World War I chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy of the 69th New York Infantry Regiment, and is the site of a memorial to him. There is also a statue of composer and entertainer George M. Cohan,^[25] and the TKTS discount ticket booth for Broadway and off-Broadway theaters.

Discover more about Geography related topics

Town square

Town square

A town square is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. Related concepts are the civic center, the market square and the village green.

Square

Square

In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles. It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adjacent sides. It is the only regular polygon whose internal angle, central angle, and external angle are all equal (90°), and whose diagonals are all equal in length. A square with vertices ABCD would be denoted ABCD.

Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)

Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)

Seventh Avenue – known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park – is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park.

Broadway (Manhattan)

Broadway (Manhattan)

Broadway is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from State Street at Bowling Green for 13 mi (21 km) through the borough of Manhattan and 2 mi (3.2 km) through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional 18 mi (29 km) through the Westchester County municipalities of Yonkers, Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, and Tarrytown, and terminating north of Sleepy Hollow.

42nd Street (Manhattan)

42nd Street (Manhattan)

42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, spanning the entire breadth of Midtown Manhattan, from Turtle Bay at the East River, to Hell's Kitchen at the Hudson River on the West Side. The street hosts some of New York's best known landmarks, including the headquarters of the United Nations, the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library Main Branch, Times Square, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

47th Street (Manhattan)

47th Street (Manhattan)

47th Street is an east–west running street between First Avenue and the West Side Highway in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs one way along the street, from east to west, starting at the headquarters of the United Nations. The street features the Diamond District in a single block and also courses through Times Square.

Commissioners' Plan of 1811

Commissioners' Plan of 1811

The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street and below 155th Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan on its march uptown until the current day. It has been called "the single most important document in New York City's development," and the plan has been described as encompassing the "republican predilection for control and balance ... [and] distrust of nature". It was described by the Commission that created it as combining "beauty, order and convenience."

Duffy Square

Duffy Square

Duffy Square, named Father Duffy Square in 1939, is the northern triangle of Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by 45th and 47th Streets, Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It is now well known for the TKTS reduced-price theater tickets booth located there.

Francis P. Duffy

Francis P. Duffy

Francis Patrick Duffy was a Canadian American soldier, Catholic priest and military chaplain.

69th New York Infantry Regiment

69th New York Infantry Regiment

The 69th New York Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. It is from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. It is known as the "Fighting Sixty-Ninth", a name said to have been given by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. An Irish-American heritage is attributed to the regiment, which is also nicknamed the "Fighting Irish" – a tradition mentioned in Joyce Kilmer's poem "When the 69th Comes Back". Between 1917 and 1992 it was also designated the 165th Infantry Regiment. It is headquartered at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan.

George M. Cohan

George M. Cohan

George Michael Cohan was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.

TKTS

TKTS

The TKTS ticket booths in New York City and London sell Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, music, and dance events and West End theatre tickets, respectively, at discounts of 20–50% off the face value.

Broadway at 42nd Street in 1898

A crowd outside One Times Square follows the progress of the Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier boxing fight in 1921.

Early history

When Manhattan Island was first settled by the Dutch colonists, three small streams united near what is now the intersection of 10th Avenue and 40th Street. These three streams formed the "Great Kill" (Dutch: Grote Kil). From there the Great Kill wound through the low-lying Reed Valley, known for fish and waterfowl,^[26] and emptied into a deep bay in the Hudson River at the present 42nd Street.^[27] The name was retained in a tiny hamlet, Great Kill, that became a center for carriage-making, as the upland to the south and east became known as Longacre.^[28]

Before and after the American Revolution, the area belonged to John Morin Scott, a general of the New York militia, in which he served under George Washington. Scott's manor house was at what is currently 43rd Street, surrounded by countryside used for farming and breeding horses. In the first half of the 19th century, it became one of the prized possessions of John Jacob Astor, who made a second fortune selling off lots to hotels and other real estate concerns as the city rapidly spread uptown.^[29]

By 1872, the area had become the center of New York's horse carriage industry. The locality had not previously been given a name, and city authorities called it Longacre Square after Long Acre in London, where the horse and carriage trade was centered in that city.^[30] William Henry Vanderbilt owned and ran the American Horse Exchange there. In 1910, it became the Winter Garden Theatre.^[31]

As more profitable commerce and industrialization of Lower Manhattan pushed homes, theaters, and prostitution northward from the Tenderloin District, Longacre Square became nicknamed the Thieves Lair for its rollicking reputation as a low entertainment district. The first theater on the square, the Olympia, was built by cigar manufacturer and impresario Oscar Hammerstein I.^[32] According to Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, "By the early 1890s this once sparsely settled stretch of Broadway was ablaze with electric light and thronged by crowds of middle- and upper-class theatre, restaurant and cafe patrons."^[33]

1900s–1930s

In 1904, New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved the newspaper's operations to a new skyscraper on 42nd Street at Longacre Square, on the site of the former Pabst Hotel, which had existed on the site for less than a decade since it opened in November 1899.^[34] Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. to construct a subway station there, and the area was renamed "Times Square" on April 8, 1904.^[35] Just three weeks later, the first electrified advertisement appeared on the side of a bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway.^[36] The north end later became Duffy Square, and the former Horse Exchange became the Winter Garden Theatre, constructed in 1911.^[37]

The New York Times moved to more spacious offices one block west of the square in 1913 and sold the building in 1961.^[35] The old Times Building was later named the Allied Chemical Building in 1963.^[38] Now known simply as One Times Square, it is famed for the Times Square Ball drop on its roof every New Year's Eve.

In 1913, the Lincoln Highway Association, headed by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, chose the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway (at the southeast corner of Times Square) to be the Eastern Terminus of the Lincoln Highway. This was the first road across the United States, which originally ran 3,389 mi (5,454 km) coast to coast through 13 states to its western terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco.^[39][40]

Times Square grew dramatically after World War I.^[41] It became a cultural hub full of theatres, music halls, and upscale hotels.^[41]

Times Square quickly became New York's agora, a place to gather to await great tidings and to celebrate them, whether a World Series or a presidential election.

— James Traub, The Devil's Playground: A Century of Pleasure and Profit in Times Square

Advertising also grew significantly in the 1920s, growing from $25 million to $85 million over the decade.^[42] For example, the Wrigley Spearmint Gum sign, possibly the biggest electric sign "in the world," cost $9,000 per month to rent.^[43] Some contemporary critics, such as Thorstein Veblen^[44] and G. K. Chesterton,^[45] disliked the advertising at Times Square. Fritz Lang, after seeing Times Square in 1923, used it as inspiration for his dark industrial film Metropolis.^[44]

Entertainment icons such as Irving Berlin, Charlie Chaplin, and Fred Astaire were closely associated with Times Square in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s. However, it was also during this period that the area began to be besieged by crime and corruption, in the form of gambling and prostitution; one case that garnered huge attention was the arrest and subsequent execution of police officer Charles Becker.^[46]

1930s–1950s

Crowds celebrating in Times Square on V-J Day (August 15, 1945)

The general atmosphere of Times Square changed with the onset of the Great Depression in the early 1930s. City residents moved uptown to cheaper neighborhoods, and many popular theaters closed, replaced by saloons, brothels, "burlesque halls, vaudeville stages, and dime houses".^[47] The area acquired a reputation as a dangerous and seedy neighborhood in the following decades.^[48]

Nevertheless, Times Square continued to be the site of the annual ball drop on New Year's Eve. The ball drop was placed on hiatus for New Year's Eve in 1942 and 1943 due to lighting restrictions during World War II. Instead, a moment of silence was observed at midnight in Times Square, accompanied by the sound of chimes played from sound trucks.

On May 8, 1945, a massive crowd celebrated Victory in Europe Day in Times Square;^[49] and on August 15, 1945, the largest crowd in the history of Times Square gathered to celebrate Victory over Japan Day.^[50] The victory itself was announced by a headline on the "zipper" news ticker at One Times Square, which read "OFFICIAL ***TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER ***

1960s–1990s

Decline

Camel Cigarettes sign, 1965. Below and near the letters "Cam" is smoke from a disintegrating smoke ring

Times Square, 1965; the My Fair Lady marquee is at center

From the 1960s to the early 1990s, the seediness of the area, especially due to its go-go bars, sex shops, peep shows, and adult theaters, became an infamous symbol of the city's decline.^[51] As early as 1960, 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues was described by The New York Times as "the 'worst' [block] in town".^[52] Later that decade, Times Square was depicted in Midnight Cowboy as gritty, depraved, and desperate. Conditions only worsened in the 1970s and 1980s, as did the crime in the rest of the city. In the mid-1980s, the area bounded by 40th and 50th Streets and Seventh and Ninth Avenues saw over 15,000 crime complaints per year.^[53] The block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues had 2,300 crimes per year in 1984, of which one-fifth were felonies.^[54][55]

In this era, formerly elegant movie theaters began to show porn, and hustlers were common.^[56] The area was so abandoned at one point during the time that the entire Times Square area paid the city only $6 million in property taxes (about $13 million in 2021).

1980s building boom

In the 1980s, a commercial building boom began in the western parts of Midtown as part of a long-term development plan developed under mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins. These included office buildings such as 1540 Broadway, 1585 Broadway, and 750 Seventh Avenue, as well as hotels such as the Macklowe Hotel, Marriott Marquis, Crowne Plaza, and DoubleTree Suites.^[57] By 1986, New York City Planning Commission (CPC) was considering enacting regulations that would have forced new buildings along Times Square to include bright signage as well as deep setbacks.^[58] The CPC adopted a planning regulation in 1987, which required large new developments in Times Square to set aside about 5 percent of their space for "entertainment uses".^[59][a] The regulation also required new buildings on Times Square to include large, bright signs.^[59] The buildings at 1540 Broadway, 1585 Broadway, and 750 Seventh Avenue were completed at with the beginning of the early 1990s recession, when 14.5 percent of Manhattan office space was vacant.^[60] Furthermore, some 9×10^⁶ sq ft (840,000 m²) of office space in the western section of Midtown had been developed in the 1980s, of which only half had been leased.^[61][62] Consequently, 1540 Broadway was completely empty, while 1585 Broadway and 750 Seventh Avenue had one tenant each, despite the buildings having over 2×10^⁶ sq ft (190,000 m²) of office space between them.^[60][63] Entertainment conglomerate Bertelsmann bought 1540 Broadway in 1992,^[64][65] spurring a revival of Times Square in the early 1990s.^[66][67] This was hastened when financial firm Morgan Stanley bought 1585 Broadway in 1993,^[68] followed by 750 Seventh Avenue in 1994.^[69]

42nd Street Redevelopment, further revitalization

The pace, extensive transit connectivity, and theatrical tradition of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues have made this one of the best known streets in the Times Square neighborhood and the Broadway Theater District.

The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), an agency of the New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981.^[70] Four towers designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee were to be built around 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue.^[71][72] These towers would have been redeveloped by George Klein of Park Tower Realty, though the Prudential Insurance Company of America joined the project in 1986.^[73][74][75] Furthermore, as part of the West Midtown special zoning district created in 1982, the New York City government had allowed new buildings in Times Square to be developed with an increased floor area ratio. To ensure the area would not be darkened at nightfall, the city passed zoning regulations that encouraged developers to add large, bright signs on their buildings.^[71][76]

In 1990, the State of New York took possession of six of the nine historic theaters on 42nd Street, and the New 42nd Street non-profit organization was appointed to oversee their restoration and maintenance. The theaters underwent renovation for Broadway shows, conversion for commercial purposes, or demolition.^[77] Opposition to the towers on Times Square, along with Prudential and Park Tower's inability to secure tenants for the proposed buildings,^[78] led government officials to allow Prudential and Park Tower to postpone the project in 1992.^[72][79] By then, Prudential had spent $300 million on condemning the sites through eminent domain.^[80] The partners retained the right to develop the sites in the future,^[81] and the ESDC's zoning guidelines remained in effect.^[71] In exchange for being permitted to delay construction of the sites until 2002, Prudential and Park Tower were compelled to add stores and install large signage on the existing buildings.^[82]

In 1992, the Times Square Alliance (formerly the Times Square Business Improvement District, or "BID" for short), a coalition of city government and local businesses dedicated to improving the quality of commerce and cleanliness in the district, started operations in the area.^[83] In 1998, the alliance opened a tourist information center in the former Embassy Theatre at 1560 Broadway;^[84] the information center operated until 2014.^[85]

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium are two of the newer attractions on the redeveloped 42nd Street.

In the mid-1990s, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led an effort to clean up the area, an effort that is described by Steve Macek in Urban Nightmares: The Media, the Right, and the Moral Panic Over the City: Security was increased, pornographic theatres were closed, and "undesirable" low-rent residents were pressured to relocate, and then more tourist-friendly attractions and upscale establishments were opened. Advocates of the remodeling claim that the neighborhood is safer and cleaner. Detractors have countered that the changes have homogenized or "Disneyfied" the character of Times Square and have unfairly targeted lower-income New Yorkers from nearby neighborhoods such as Hell's Kitchen.^[86][87] The changes were shaped in large part by the actions of The Walt Disney Company, which bought and restored the New Amsterdam Theatre after several attempts at redevelopment had failed. As part of a contract with Disney, officials from the city and state evicted the pornographic theaters and contracted with Madame Tussauds and AMC Theatres to move onto 42nd Street. This spurred the construction of new office towers, hotels, and tourist attractions in the area.^[88]

Prudential and Klein dissolved their partnership for the four office-building sites at Times Square's southern end in 1996.^[89][90] The same year, Douglas Durst acquired the site at the northeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street,^[91] and he developed 4 Times Square there.^[92] The northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street was taken by Reuters, which enlisted Rudin Management as its development partner and built 3 Times Square on that corner;^[93][94] that building opened in 2001.^[95] In 1998, a joint venture of Klein, The Blackstone Group, and Boston Properties won the right to acquire the sites at the southwest and southeast corners of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue for $330 million.^[96][97] 5 Times Square was completed on the southwest-corner site in 2002,^[98][99] and Times Square Tower opened on the southeast-corner site in 2004.^[100]

Effects

Times Square now boasts attractions such as ABC's Times Square Studios, where Good Morning America is broadcast live; competing Hershey's and M&M's stores across the street from each other, and multiple multiplex movie theaters. Additionally, the area contains restaurants such as the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a seafood establishment; Planet Hollywood Restaurant and Bar, a theme restaurant; and Carmine's, serving Italian cuisine. It has also attracted several large financial, publishing, and media firms to set up headquarters in the area. A larger presence of police has improved the safety of the area.^[77]

The theatres of Broadway and the huge number of animated neon and LED signs have been one of New York's iconic images as well as a symbol of the intensely urban aspects of Manhattan. Since 1987 such signage has been mandated by zoning ordinances that require building owners to display illuminated signs, the only district in New York City with this requirement.^[101][102] The neighborhood has a minimum limit for lighting instead of the standard maximum limit.^[103] The density of illuminated signs in Times Square rivals that in Las Vegas. Officially, signs in Times Square are called "spectaculars", and the largest of them are called "jumbotrons". This signage ordinance was implemented in accordance with guidelines set in a revitalization program that New York Governor Mario Cuomo implemented in 1993.^[77]

The "Naked Cowboy" has been a fixture on Times Square for decades.

Notable signage includes the Toshiba billboard directly under the NYE ball drop, the curved seven-story NASDAQ sign at the NASDAQ MarketSite at 4 Times Square on 43rd Street, and the curved Coca-Cola sign located underneath another large LED display owned and operated by Samsung. Both the Coca-Cola sign and Samsung LED displays were built by LED display manufacturer Daktronics. Times Square's first environmentally friendly billboard powered by wind and solar energy was first lit on December 4, 2008.^[104] On completion, the 20 Times Square development will host the largest LED signage in Times Square at 18,000 square feet.^[105] The display will be 1,000 square feet larger than the Times Square Walgreens display and one of the largest video-capable screens in the world.^[106]

2000s–present

In 2002, New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani administered the oath of office to the city's next mayor, Michael Bloomberg, at Times Square after midnight on January 1 as part of the 2001–02 New Year's celebration. Approximately 500,000 revelers attended. Security was high following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, with more than 7,000 New York City police officers on duty in the Square, twice the number for an ordinary year.^[107]

Looking southeast at TKTS ticket booth on a sunny afternoon in Times Square

Times Square started hosting other major annual events in the 2000s. Since 2002, the summer solstice has been marked by "Mind over Madness", a mass yoga event involving up to 15,000 people. Tim Tompkins, a co-founder of the event, said part of its appeal was "finding stillness and calm amid the city rush on the longest day of the year".^[108][109] Architect Mark Foster Gage proposed and designed the original Times Square Valentine's Day heart in 2009. Since then, designing the heart has become an annual competition.^[110][111]

In February 2011, Times Square became smoke-free as New York extended the outdoors smoking ban to the area. The measure imposed a $50 fine for any person caught smoking within the area.^[112] From January 29 to February 1, 2014, a "Super Bowl Boulevard" was held on Broadway, especially in Times Square, between 34th and 47th Streets, as part of Super Bowl XLVIII. The boulevard contained activities such as autographs, a 60 ft (18 m)-high toboggan run, and photographs with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.^{[113][114][115]} The area was under increased security and witnessed over 400,000 people during the period.^[116]

In October 2022, casino operator Caesars Entertainment and commercial property developer SL Green submitted a joint proposal to open a casino at 1515 Broadway, along Times Square.^[117][118] The New York state government has yet to act on the proposal.^[118]

Pedestrian plaza

Pedestrian plaza

Pilot program (2009)

Temporary conversion (2012)

Permanent reconstruction (2017)

On February 26, 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that traffic lanes along Broadway from 42nd Street to 47th Street would be de-mapped starting Memorial Day 2009 and transformed into pedestrian plazas as a trial until at least the end of the year. The same was done in Herald Square from 33rd to 35th Street. The results were to be closely monitored to determine if the project was successful and should be extended.^[119] Bloomberg also stated that he believed the street shutdown would make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian-vehicle accidents, and helping traffic flow more smoothly through the Midtown street grid.^[120]

The pedestrian plaza project was originally opposed by local businesses, who thought that closing the street to cars would hurt business.^[121] The original seats put out for pedestrians were inexpensive multicolored plastic lawn chairs, a source of amusement to many New Yorkers; they lasted from the onset of the plaza transformation until August 14, 2009, when they were ceremoniously bundled together in an installation christened Now You See It, Now You Don't by the artist Jason Peters, and shortly afterward were replaced by sturdier metal furniture.^[122] Although the plaza had mixed results on traffic in the area, injuries to motorists and pedestrians decreased, fewer pedestrians were walking in the road, and the number of pedestrians in Times Square increased.^[123] On February 11, 2010, Bloomberg announced that the pedestrian plazas would become permanent.^[124]

The city started rebuilding the plaza in 2010, hiring the design and landscaping firm Snøhetta to permanently replace Broadway's roadway with custom-made granite pavers and benches.^[125] By December 2013, the first phase of the Times Square pedestrian plaza had been completed at the southern end of the square in time for the Times Square Ball drop on New Year's Eve.^[126] The project was originally intended to be completed by the end of 2015.^[126] The entire project was finally completed just before New Year's Eve 2016.^[127] Some safety bollards were also installed as part of the renovation to prevent vehicular attacks or collisions on the sidewalk.^[128] After a 2017 vehicle-ramming attack, there were calls to install more bollards along Times Square.^[129]

Times Square's pedestrian plaza is frequented by topless women (with painted breasts) called "desnudas", as well as costumed characters, who typically panhandle for tips.^[130] The pedestrian plaza became a source of controversy in the summer of 2015 because of a large number of complaints about the topless women and panhandling characters.^[131] Although neither of these activities was illegal, opponents believed that the panhandlers' presence was detrimental to the quality of life in the area.^[132] There were calls from Police Commissioner Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio to remove the plaza, although Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer opposed the proposal.^[132] In June 2016, work started on "pedestrian flow zones" where no one was allowed to loiter, as well as "activity zones" where costumed characters were allowed to perform.^[133]

Incidents

There have been several incidents in Times Square:

• On the morning of March 6, 2008, a small bomb caused minor damage, but there were no reported injuries.^[134]
• On May 1, 2010, Times Square was evacuated from 43rd to 46th Streets following the discovery of a car bomb. It was found to be a failed bombing.^[135]
• On May 18, 2017, a vehicle-ramming attack at Times Square killed one person and injured 22 others.^[136][137]
• On August 7, 2019, shortly after consecutive mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, a backfiring motorcycle resulted in a stampede due to the sound being mistaken for gunfire; the stampede injured at least twelve people.^[138]
• On May 8, 2021, a dispute between a group of men led to a shooting in which three bystanders were wounded, including a four-year-old girl.^[139]
• On June 27, 2021, a dispute between a group of street vendors led to a shooting in which a 21-year-old bystander was wounded.^[140][141]
• On December 31, 2022, three officers with the New York City Police Department were wounded in a machete attack that occurred during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square. The suspect, a 19-year-old male from Maine, was also wounded before being taken into custody. Investigators looked into jihadist writings purportedly posted by the suspect before he traveled to New York City.^[142]

Discover more about History related topics

Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier

Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier

Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier was a boxing fight between world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and world light-heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier, which was one of the fights named the "Fight of the Century". The bout took place in the United States on Saturday, July 2, 1921, at Boyle's Thirty Acres in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Dutch colonization of the Americas

Dutch colonization of the Americas

The Netherlands began its colonization of the Americas with the establishment of trading posts and plantations, which preceded the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. While the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600, the first forts and settlements along the Essequibo River in Guyana date from the 1590s. Actual colonization, with the Dutch settling in the new lands, was not as common as by other European nations. Many of the Dutch settlements were lost or abandoned by the end of the 17th century, but the Netherlands managed to retain possession of Suriname until it gained independence in 1975. Among its several colonies in the region, only the Dutch Caribbean still remains to be part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands today.

Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson River is a 315-mile (507 km) river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between New York City and Jersey City, eventually draining into the Atlantic Ocean at Lower New York Bay. The river serves as a physical boundary between the states of New Jersey and New York at its southern end. Farther north, it marks local boundaries between several New York counties. The lower half of the river is a tidal estuary, deeper than the body of water into which it flows, occupying the Hudson Fjord, an inlet which formed during the most recent period of North American glaciation, estimated at 26,000 to 13,300 years ago. Even as far north as the city of Troy, the flow of the river changes direction with the tides.

American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), gaining independence from the British Crown and establishing the United States as the first country founded on Enlightenment principles of liberal democracy.

John Morin Scott

John Morin Scott

John Morin Scott was a lawyer, military officer, and statesman before, during and after the American Revolution.

George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and served as president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which created and ratified the Constitution of the United States and the American federal government. Washington has been called the "Father of his Country" for his manifold leadership in the nation's founding.

Manor house

Manor house

A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with manorial tenants and great banquets. The term is today loosely applied to various country houses, frequently dating from the Late Middle Ages, which formerly housed the landed gentry.

John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor was a German American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and by investing in real estate in or around New York City. He was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States.

Long Acre

Long Acre

Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its coach-makers, and later for its car dealers.

Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with over 8.8 million residents as of the 2020 census.

Olympia Theatre (New York City)

Olympia Theatre (New York City)

The Olympia Theatre, also known as Hammerstein's Olympia, was a theatre complex built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I in Longacre Square, New York City, opening in 1895. It consisted of a theatre, a music hall, a concert hall, and a roof garden. Later, sections of the structure were substantially remodeled and used for both live theatre and for motion pictures. As a cinema, it was also known at various times as the Vitagraph Theatre and the Criterion Theatre.

Impresario

Impresario

An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer.

Times Square is the most visited place globally with 360,000 pedestrian visitors a day, amounting to over 131 million a year.^[143] As of 2013^[update], it had a greater attendance than do each of the Disney theme parks worldwide, with 128,794,000 visitors between March 2012 and February 2013, versus 126,479,000 for the Walt Disney World theme parks in Bay Lake, Florida, in 2012.^[143][144] Even excluding residents from the visitor count, Times Square is the world's second most visited tourist attraction, behind the Las Vegas Strip.^[145] The high level of pedestrian traffic has resulted in $4.8 billion in annual retail, entertainment, and hotel sales,^[146] with 22 cents out of every dollar spent by visitors in New York City being spent within Times Square.^[146][147]

New Year's Eve celebrations

The Times Square Ball in 2007

Times Square is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop. About one million revelers crowd Times Square for the New Year's Eve celebrations, more than twice the usual number of visitors the area usually receives daily.^[148] However, for the millennium celebration on December 31, 1999, published reports stated approximately two million people overflowed Times Square, flowing from Sixth Avenue to Eighth Avenue and back on Broadway and Seventh Avenue to 59th Street, making it the largest gathering in Times Square since August 1945 during celebrations marking the end of World War II.^[149]

On December 31, 1907, a ball signifying New Year's Day was first dropped at Times Square,^[150] and the Square has held the main New Year's celebration in New York City ever since. On that night, hundreds of thousands of people congregate to watch the Waterford Crystal ball being lowered on a pole atop the building, marking the start of the new year. It replaced a lavish fireworks display from the top of the building that was held from 1904 to 1906 but stopped by city officials because of the danger of fire. Beginning in 1908, and for more than eighty years thereafter, Times Square sign maker Artkraft Strauss was responsible for the ball-lowering. During World War II, a minute of silence, followed by a recording of church bells pealing, replaced the ball drop because of wartime blackout restrictions. Today, Countdown Entertainment and One Times Square handle the New Year's Eve event in conjunction with the Times Square Alliance.^[150] A new energy-efficient LED ball debuted for the arrival of 2008, which was the centennial of the Times Square ball drop. The 2008–09 ball is larger and has become a permanent installation as a year-round attraction, being used for celebrations on days such as Valentine's Day and Halloween.^[150]

The New Year's Eve celebrations are usually overseen by thousands of police officers. Aluminum barriers are erected to accommodate spectators; for the 2020 celebration, attended by a million people, barriers were erected from 38th to 59th Street and from Sixth to Eighth Avenue.^[151] Typically, the celebrations create large amounts of waste. The New York City Department of Sanitation estimated that by 8 a.m. on New Year's Day 2014, it had cleared over 50 short tons (45 long tons; 45 t) of trash from the New Year's celebration, using 190 workers from their crews and the Times Square Alliance.^[152]

Impact of COVID-19

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City during 2020 reduced the number of people traveling to Times Square. About 108,000 pedestrians visited Times Square each day in late 2020 compared to the 380,000 before the pandemic. From March to October 2020, 26 of the area's 46 hotels closed, as well as 39 of 151 stores and 84 of 162 restaurants.^[153] Times Square was closed to the public for New Year's Day 2021 and observers were dispersed into enclosures measuring 8 by 8 ft (2.4 by 2.4 m).^[151][154]

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Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World

The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The property covers nearly 25,000 acres, of which half has been used. The resort comprises four theme parks, two water parks, 31 themed resort hotels, nine non-Disney hotels, several golf courses, a camping resort, and other entertainment venues, including the outdoor shopping center Disney Springs. On October 1, 2021, Walt Disney World started its celebration of its 50-year anniversary which will last for 18 consecutive months ending on March 31, 2023.

Bay Lake, Florida

Bay Lake, Florida

Bay Lake is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29 at the 2020 census. It is named after a lake that lies east of the Magic Kingdom. All four of the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks, and one of Walt Disney World's two water parks, are in Bay Lake, though all Disney parks in the region have mailing addresses in nearby Lake Buena Vista.

Las Vegas Strip

Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about 4.2 mi (6.8 km) long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester, but is often referred to simply as "Las Vegas".

Times Square Ball

Times Square Ball

The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City's Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ball descends down a specially designed flagpole, beginning at 11:59:00 p.m. ET, and resting at midnight to signal the start of the new year. In recent years, the ball drop has been preceded by live entertainment, including performances by musicians.

Victory over Japan Day

Victory over Japan Day

Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made – 15 August 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences, 14 August 1945 – as well as to 2 September 1945, when the surrender document was signed, officially ending World War II.

Waterford Crystal

Waterford Crystal

Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of lead glass or "crystal", especially in cut glass, named after the city of Waterford, Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was closed due to the insolvency of Waterford Wedgwood PLC, and in June 2010, Waterford Crystal relocated almost back to the roots of glass-making in the city centre. The Mall location holds both a manufacturing facility that melts over 750 tonnes of crystal a year - although most Waterford Crystal is now produced outside Ireland - and a visitor centre with the world's largest collection of Waterford Crystal. As of 2015, the brand is owned by the Fiskars Corporation.

Artkraft Strauss

Artkraft Strauss

Artkraft Strauss is a sign design and consulting company headquartered in Manhattan, New York. Throughout the 20th century, the company was the preeminent designer and creator of Times Square's iconic signs and displays. These included the “smoking” Camel sign, which wafted giant smoke rings over the Square; the Bond Clothing Stores display, a block-long extravaganza with a perpetual waterfall; and the high-neon north-Square “spectaculars” created for Canadian Club and Admiral Television. For almost a century, Artkraft Strauss was also responsible for the annual midnight ball drop that signaled the new year’s arrival.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine and through later folk traditions, it has also become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.

Halloween

Halloween

Halloween or Hallowe'en is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

New York City Department of Sanitation

New York City Department of Sanitation

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for garbage collection, recycling collection, street cleaning, and snow removal. The DSNY is the primary operator of the New York City waste management system.

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City

The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirmed as early as February. By March 29, over 30,000 cases were confirmed, and New York City had become the worst-affected area in the United States. There were over 2,000 deaths by April 6; at that stage, the city had more confirmed coronavirus cases than China, the UK, or Iran. Bodies of the deceased were picked up from their homes by the US Army, National Guard, and Air National Guard.

The Paramount Building at 1501 Broadway, which once housed the Paramount Theatre.

One Astor Plaza (1515 Broadway) is the headquarters of Paramount Global. It replaced the Astor Hotel in 1972, when Times Square redevelopment plans allowed oversized office towers if they included new theatres.^[155]

Times Square is a busy intersection of art and commerce, where scores of advertisements – electric, neon and illuminated signs and "zipper" news crawls – vie for viewers' attention. Notable examples include:

• Coca-Cola sign
• Disney Store
• Fashion One
• Forever 21 (formerly Virgin Megastores)
• Hard Rock Cafe New York
• M&M's World
• MTV
• Planet Hollywood
• Palladium Times Square
• Revlon
• Times Square Studios – used primarily for selected ABC News and ESPN programs, such as Good Morning America
• TKTS – the Theatre Development Fund's reduced-price ticket booth has, since 2008, been backed by a red, sloped, triangular set of bleacher-like stairs, which is frequented by residents and tourists.
• Times Square - a permanently installed sound art piece by Max Neuhaus between 45th and 46th Streets.

Contemporary artists regularly perform on Times Square. Examples include test patterns[times square] by Ryoji Ikeda^[161] and Continuum by Krista Kim.^[162]

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1501 Broadway

1501 Broadway

1501 Broadway, also known as the Paramount Building, is a 33-story office building on Times Square between West 43rd and 44th Streets in the Theater District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Rapp and Rapp, it was erected from 1925 to 1927 as the headquarters of Paramount Pictures. The building is designed in the Art Deco style, with Beaux-Arts influences. The office wing on Times Square contains numerous setbacks as mandated by the 1916 Zoning Resolution, while the rear wing housed the Paramount Theatre from 1926 to 1967. Newmark & Company owns 1501 Broadway.

One Astor Plaza

One Astor Plaza

One Astor Plaza, also known as 1515 Broadway and formerly the W. T. Grant Building, is a 54-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Der Scutt of Ely J. Kahn & Jacobs, the building was developed by Sam Minskoff and Sons. One Astor Plaza occupies a site bounded by Broadway to the east, 45th Street to the north, Shubert Alley to the west, and 44th Street to the south. The building is named for the Hotel Astor, which had occupied the site from 1904 to 1967. SL Green Realty and Allianz own One Astor Plaza, which serves as the headquarters for Paramount Global.

Coca-Cola sign

Coca-Cola sign

The Coca-Cola sign is an electro-kinetic sculpture on the Two Times Square building in Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. The current sign, installed in 2017, is 68 feet (21 m) tall and 42 feet (13 m) wide, and is the latest in a line of Coca-Cola Times Square signs dating back to 1920.

Disney Store

Disney Store

The Disney Store is a chain of specialty stores selling only Disney related items, many of them exclusive, under its own name and Disney Outlet. It was a business unit of Disney Consumer Products with the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment of The Walt Disney Company conglomerate.

Fashion One

Fashion One

Fashion One is a 24-hour New York City-based television network founded by German entrepreneur, Michael Gleissner and owned by the Miami Beach, Florida-based entertainment company, Bigfoot Entertainment. Launched on April 8, 2010, the New York City-based television network broadcasts programming related to fashion, entertainment and lifestyle.

Forever 21

Forever 21

Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984, it is currently operated by Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group, with about 540 outlets.

Hard Rock Cafe

Hard Rock Cafe

Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is an American multinational chain of theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, until April 2018, when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida. As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 172 bar or cafe-restaurants, 37 hotels, and 4 casinos.

M&M's World

M&M's World

M&M's World is a retail store that specializes in M&M's candy and merchandise. The first location was on the Las Vegas Strip in 1997, with others in Orlando, Florida, New York City, London, Henderson, Nevada, Shanghai, Bloomington, Minnesota and Berlin.

MTV

MTV

MTV is a 24-hour American cable music video channel officially launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global.

Palladium Times Square

Palladium Times Square

Palladium Times Square is an indoor live events venue in New York City, located in One Astor Plaza, at the corner of Broadway and 44th Street. It was designed by architect David Rockwell and opened in September 2005. The venue has a large standing room orchestra section, combined with a large area of seating towards the rear of the auditorium.

ESPN

ESPN

ESPN is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan.

Good Morning America

Good Morning America

Good Morning America is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. The Sunday edition was canceled in 1999; weekend editions returned on both Saturdays and Sundays on September 4, 2004. The weekday and Saturday programs airs from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in all United States timezones. The Sunday editions are an hour long and are transmitted to ABC's stations live at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, although stations in some media markets air them at different times. Viewers in the Pacific Time Zone receive an updated feed with a specialized opening and updated live reports. A third hour of the weekday broadcast aired from 2007 to 2008, exclusively on ABC News Now.

Times Square looking north from 44th Street

An immediately recognizable location, Times Square has been featured countless times in literature, films, video games, music videos, and on television.

The seediness of the area was featured prominently in such films as Midnight Cowboy^[163] (1969), Born to Win^[164] (1971), and Taxi Driver (1976).^[165] The area was shown in the 1980 film Times Square, which featured a punk rock/new wave soundtrack.^[166] It was also depicted in the 2011 movie New Year's Eve.^[167] The area also appeared on The Amazing Race as the starting location in a race around the world in the first episode of the show's 25th season,^[168] as well as on the sixth season of the Israeli edition of The Amazing Race with teams finishing their second leg in Times Square.^[169]

Times Square has been fictionally attacked and destroyed in several movies, including Knowing, when a solar flare destroys New York City;^[170] Deep Impact, when a tsunami created from a meteor impact destroys New York City; the 1998 film Godzilla, where Godzilla is chased through the square; the Ghostbusters movies; Stephen King's The Stand, where the intersection is overcome by total anarchy; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was also seen in the festival battle scene in the 2002 film Spider-Man, and a stand-off in the later film The Amazing Spider-Man 2.^[171]

Films and TV shows have also employed the opposite tactic, depicting the typically bustling area as eerily still, such as in Vanilla Sky,^[172] as well as the post-apocalyptic I Am Legend, in which Will Smith and his dog go hunting for deer in the deserted urban canyon.^[170] In the pilot episode of the TV series Blindspot, Times Square is completely emptied due to an abandoned bag being suspected to be a bomb.^[173]

Times Square also has featured prominently in video games. For instance, in Grand Theft Auto IV, a recreation of the Times Square area referred to in-game as "Star Junction", is included in the game's fictional "Liberty City" setting.^[170] Times Square is also shown in Battlefield 3, where the final fight with the main antagonist takes place, where the player must stop him from detonating a nuclear bomb in the square; and Crysis 2, in which player must fight off attacking alien forces to assist U.S. Marines in evacuating the area.^[174] Gran Turismo 4 also features Times Square both as a photo spot and as a part of the New York city circuit which also includes Central Park.

The northern part of the square in 2004 before reconstruction, with Two Times Square in the center

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Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller roles being filled by Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Salt, and Barnard Hughes. Set in New York City, Midnight Cowboy depicts the unlikely friendship between two hustlers: naïve sex worker Joe Buck (Voight), and ailing con man Enrico "Rico" Rizzo (Hoffman), referred to as "Ratso".

Born to Win

Born to Win

Born to Win is a 1971 black comedy crime drama film directed by Ivan Passer and starring George Segal, Karen Black, Paula Prentiss, Hector Elizondo, Jay Fletcher and Robert De Niro. Filming locations took place in Manhattan, specifically Times Square.

Punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often shouted political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent record labels.

New wave music

New wave music

New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Later, critical consensus favored "new wave" as an umbrella term involving many popular music styles of the era, including power pop, synth-pop, ska revival, and more specific forms of punk rock that were less abrasive. It may also be viewed as a more accessible counterpart of post-punk.

New Year's Eve (2011 film)

New Year's Eve (2011 film)

New Year's Eve is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall. The film consists of an ensemble cast consisting of Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Héctor Elizondo, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Joey McIntyre, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sarah Paulson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Til Schweiger, Jake T. Austin, Hilary Swank, and Sofía Vergara.

HaMerotz LaMillion 6

HaMerotz LaMillion 6

HaMerotz LaMillion 6 is the sixth season of HaMerotz LaMillion, an Israeli reality television game show based on the American series The Amazing Race. The sixth installment of the series features 12 teams of two with a pre-existing relationship in a race around the world to win ₪1,000,000.

HaMerotz LaMillion

HaMerotz LaMillion

HaMerotz LaMillion is an Israeli adventure reality game show based on the international Amazing Race franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the format, the show follows teams of two as they race around the world. Each season is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in foreign areas, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel by air, boat, car, taxi, and other modes of transport. Teams are progressively eliminated at the end of most legs for being the last to arrive at designated Pit Stops. The first team to arrive at the Finish Line wins a grand prize of ₪1,000,000.

Knowing (film)

Knowing (film)

Knowing is a 2009 American science fiction thriller film directed and co-produced by Alex Proyas and starring Nicolas Cage. The film, conceived and co-written by Ryne Douglas Pearson, was originally attached to a number of directors under Columbia Pictures, but it was placed in turnaround and eventually picked up by Escape Artists. Production was financially backed by Summit Entertainment. Knowing was filmed in Docklands Studios Melbourne, Australia, using various locations to represent the film's Boston-area setting. The film centers on the discovery of a strange paper filled with numbers and the possibility that they somehow predict the details of various disasters culminating in the apocalypse.

Solar flare

Solar flare

A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phenomena. The occurrence of solar flares varies with the 11-year solar cycle.

Deep Impact (film)

Deep Impact (film)

Deep Impact is a 1998 American science-fiction disaster film directed by Mimi Leder, written by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin, and starring Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell, and Morgan Freeman. Steven Spielberg served as an executive producer of this film. It was released by Paramount Pictures in North America and by DreamWorks Pictures internationally on May 8, 1998. The film depicts the attempts to prepare for and destroy a 7-mile (11 km) wide comet set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction.

Godzilla (1998 film)

Godzilla (1998 film)

Godzilla is a 1998 American monster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. A reboot of Toho Co., Ltd.'s Godzilla franchise, it is the 23rd film in the franchise and the first Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner, and Harry Shearer. The film was dedicated to Tomoyuki Tanaka, the co-creator and producer of various Godzilla films, who died in April 1997. In the film, authorities investigate and battle a giant monster who migrates to New York City to nest its young.

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City. It also stars Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis, and features Annie Potts, William Atherton, and Ernie Hudson in supporting roles.