New Year’s Tradition

New Year’s Tradition

• We know Times Square as the most popular place to ring in the new year.

• Tens of thousands of people come to Times Square to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve

The Earliest Days

• Originally known as Long Acre( also Longacre) Square after London’s carriage district, Time Square served as the early sight for William H Vanderbilt’s American Horse Exchange.

• In the late 1800s, Long Acre Square consisted of a large open space surrounded by run down apartments

Turn on the lights

• Soon, however, the neighborhood began to change. Electricity, in the form of theater advertisements and streetlights, transformed public space into a safer, more inviting environment.

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A Newspaper Decision

• Adolph S Ochs, owner and publisher of The New York Times from 1896 to 1935, saw an opportunity and selected a highly visible location to build the Times Tower, which was the second tallest building in the city at the time.

The Times Building

• In January 1905, the Times finally moved into their new headquarters, built between Broadway and Seventh Avenue and 42nd and 43rd streets. The previous spring, Mayor George B McClellan signed a resolution that renamed the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue from Long Acre Square to Times Square.

• Ochs staged the first event to commemorate the new building and crowds still gather today to bring in the new year.

Father Duffy

• Father Francis Patrick Duffy (1871-1932) Born in Canada, eventually moved to New York City. He served as a military chaplain in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. Upon his return to the city, he became pastor of Holy Cross Church, located at 237 West 42nd Street. His statue, designed by Charles Keck(1875-1951) faces his former church.

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World War 2

• In May of 1942, Mayor La Guardia announced a dimout. Interior and exterior lighting, in addition to illuminated advertising and building lights, were required to be turned off or directed downward. This was to protect pedestrians silhouetted against the horizon from enemy submarines in coastal waters.

Times Square Today

• Times Square is a major destination for those visiting New York City.

• Today you can find shopping, dining, and street performers as the billboards light the night sky

Multiple Choice

Times Square is the most popular place to ring in the New Year

• False

• True

Multiple Choice

Times Square was known as this before being called Times Square

• Long Acre Square

• 100 Acre Woods

Multiple Choice

Times Tower was the home of The New York Times news paper

• True

• False