168-559: The Knickerbocker Hotel is a hotel at Times Square , on the southeastern corner of Broadway and 42nd Street , in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . Built by John Jacob Astor IV , the hostelry was designed in 1901 and opened in 1906. Its location near the Theater District around Times Square was intended to attract not only residential guests but also theater visitors. The Knickerbocker Hotel
336-509: A Romanesque Revival design by Philip C. Brown. Inside, the hotel contains 300 rooms, a restaurant, a coffee shop, and a roof bar. The original interior design was devised in 1905 by Trowbridge & Livingston . There are scattered remnants of the original interior design, including an entrance that formerly led from the New York City Subway 's Times Square station to the hotel's basement. The original hotel, which served as
504-435: A balustrade . This portico was removed by 1911. There was a similar portico at the center five bays on Broadway, which was flush with the rest of the facade. The second floor contained round-arched windows. The Broadway facade originally contained a secondary entrance to the cafe. On the third through twelfth floors, the building is clad in red brick with decorative elements made of Indiana Limestone and terracotta . Some of
672-431: A dropped ceiling . When the hotel reopened in 2015, Charlie Palmer was hired to operate Jake's @ The Knick, a "grab-and-go" takeout eatery on the ground level. The rebuilt ground floor has a 16-foot-tall (4.9 m) vaulted ceiling with decorative tiles similar to those installed in the subway. The third through fifteenth stories were originally devoted to residences and suites. The original third story contained suites,
840-480: A 7,500-square-foot (700 m) bar called St. Cloud, also operated by Palmer, with a rooftop terrace measuring 4,000 square feet (370 m). The bar, named after the former hotel on the same site, is used for viewings of the Times Square Ball drop, which takes place at the neighboring One Times Square during New Year's Eve . Due to the proximity of the ball, which is only about 150 feet (46 m) from
1008-400: A ballroom, and a musician's gallery. The fourth through twelfth stories were designed nearly identically, while the thirteenth and fourteenth stories were slightly different in arrangement. The fifteenth story also contained a large women's dormitory and sitting room, a valet's room, a linen room, a bundle laundry room, a fan ventilator, and a storage and upholstery department. As floor number 13
1176-489: A classical-style cornice. When the Knickerbocker was re-converted back into a hotel in the 2010s, the double-height first story was altered for a service entrance that takes up the entire width of the 41st Street facade. The third floor was skipped. The fourth and fifth stories are topped by an arch that spans the entire width of the annex. The sixth through eighth stories are flanked by pilasters , with two bays each on
1344-474: A coffee shop, and a roof bar overlooking Times Square. The hotel's total interior space is about 300,000 square feet (28,000 m). The first Hotel Knickerbocker originally had 556 guestrooms, 400 of which contained baths. The Knickerbocker was described in Architects and Builders Magazine as having "magnificent equipment and excellent service". The Knickerbocker's various artworks were a prominent part of
1512-441: 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. Prudential and Klein dissolved their partnership for the four office-building sites at Times Square's southern end in 1996. The same year, Douglas Durst acquired
1680-482: A cultural hub full of theatres, music halls , and upscale hotels. 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. Advertising also grew significantly in the 1920s, growing from $ 25 million to $ 85 million over the decade. For example, the Wrigley Spearmint Gum sign, possibly
1848-526: A flower room. ran east and south of the lobby. It had a Caen stone cladding; a 22-foot-high (6.7 m) beamed ceiling modeled after the Palace of Fontainebleau ; marble statues and tapestries on the walls; and two bronze-and-marble electric fountains by Frederick MacMonnies . Hung in the Flower Room was the mural "Masque of Flowers". The second floor was devoted to dining rooms in the original design. At
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#17327905741372016-463: A grillroom, bar, broker's office, barber and manicure parlors, and the kitchen. The grillroom contained an English design with plain oak walls and a Gothic oak ceiling. Displayed in the basement bar was a Frederic Remington painting entitled "The United States Cavalry Charge", interspersed with mirrored wall panels and gold-colored hangings. The kitchen had refrigerating plants, heating plants, and glass and silver chests, accessed by four dumbwaiters from
2184-690: A landmark on October 18, 1988. SL Green bought 1466 Broadway, along with several other Manhattan buildings owned by the Helmsley estate, in 1998 for $ 165 million. SL Green began renovating the building shortly afterward, in March 1999. At the time, the building contained a three-story location of The Gap at ground level; The Gap's billboards were prominently displayed on the facade. The Gap expanded its ground floor space from 15,000 to 35,000 square feet (1,400 to 3,300 m) during this time, reopening in mid-2001. SL Green sought to attract small office tenants to
2352-479: A lease for space on 444 Madison Avenue, with plans to move out of the Knickerbocker during the beginning of that May. By the mid-1970s, the building was known as 150–152 West 42nd Street and 1462–1470 Broadway. Helmsley still operated the building, which contained offices, commercial shops, and a pornographic bookstore. The land was held by the Inch Corporation, a shell company representing the true owner,
2520-740: A loop via the Manhattan Bridge , were through-routed from Bay Ridge–95th Street to 168th Street in Jamaica as RJ, along the route used today by the J and Z services. Under the first color scheme, RR was colored green and RJ was red. In the original Chrystie Street routing plans, the TA planned to totally eliminate the RR service, and maintain the RJ route as the main Bay Ridge service. The RJ designation
2688-514: A low entertainment district. The first theater on the square, the Olympia , was built by cigar manufacturer and impresario Oscar Hammerstein I . 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." In 1904, New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved
2856-447: 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". 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. In February 2011, Times Square became smoke-free as New York extended
3024-519: A massive crowd celebrated Victory in Europe Day in Times Square; and on August 15, 1945, the largest crowd in the history of Times Square gathered to celebrate Victory over Japan Day , reaching an estimated two million. The victory itself was announced by a headline on the "zipper" news ticker at One Times Square , which read "OFFICIAL ***TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER ***". From
3192-663: A million visitors to Times Square every year, in addition to a worldwide audience of one billion or more on various digital media platforms. Times Square, specifically the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, is the eastern terminus of the Lincoln Highway , the first road across the United States for motorized vehicles. Times Square is sometimes referred to as "the Crossroads of the World" and "the heart of
3360-500: A minimum limit for lighting instead of the standard maximum limit. 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. Notable signage includes
3528-419: 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
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#17327905741373696-426: A political-cartoon personification of New York City. Leading off the lobby were safe deposit boxes, and a bookstand and ticket office. The cafe west of the lobby had white and gold decorations. For the attached bar southwest of the lobby, artist Maxfield Parrish was commissioned to paint "Old King Cole and His Fiddlers Three", a mural of Old King Cole measuring 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. An L-shaped restaurant, with
3864-553: 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. 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
4032-458: A reputation as a dangerous and seedy neighborhood in the following decades. 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 , replaced by a moment of silence that was observed at midnight in Times Square, accompanied by the sound of chimes played from sound trucks. On May 8, 1945,
4200-493: A room for one person averaged about $ 3.25 per day, while suites cost about $ 15–20 per day. The hotel quickly became part of the city's social scene. One week after the hotel's opening, it was receiving an influx of guests from the subway. By early 1907, Architectural Record said the hotel "has proved to be a huge popular success". Architectural historian Robert A. M. Stern wrote the Hotel Knickerbocker, along with
4368-450: A source of controversy in the summer of 2015 because of a large number of complaints about the topless women and panhandling characters. Although neither of these activities are illegal, opponents believed that the panhandlers' presence was detrimental to the quality of life in the area. There were calls from Police Commissioner Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio to remove the plaza, although Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer opposed
4536-760: A suite on half a story because of the hotel's proximity to the Metropolitan Opera House . When the end of World War I was falsely announced on November 8, 1918, Caruso led the crowd outside his suite in singing " The Star-Spangled Banner "; he repeated the performance on Armistice Day three days later , when the war actually ended. The actor and composer George M. Cohan also lived there. Other guests and residents included opera singer Geraldine Farrar , baritone Antonio Scotti , film director and producer D. W. Griffith , novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald , as well as numerous politicians and diplomats. The Tammany Hall political organization often held its meetings at
4704-605: A tiny hamlet, Great Kill, that became a center for carriage-making, as the upland to the south and east became known as Longacre. 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
4872-485: 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. 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
5040-413: A two-story base, a ten-story shaft, and a three-story mansard roof. The ground and second stories serve as a commercial base and have seen numerous design changes since 1920. The vertical limestone piers are the only portions of the original design that remain at the base. Originally, a ground-level portico projected from the center seven bays of the 42nd Street facade, with seven round arches topped by
5208-464: A year-round attraction, being used for celebrations on days such as Valentine's Day and Halloween . 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. Typically, the celebrations create large amounts of waste. The waste includes
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5376-850: Is a bowtie -shaped plaza five blocks long between 42nd and 47th Streets . Times Square is brightly lit by numerous digital billboards and advertisements as well as businesses offering 24/7 service . One of the world's busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District and a major center of the world's entertainment industry . Times Square is one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days. The Times Square–42nd Street and 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal stations have consistently ranked as
5544-410: 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: Major buildings on or near Times Square "Numbered" Times Square buildings R (New York City Subway service) The R Broadway Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of
5712-501: 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. Times Square is the official name of the southern triangle, below 45th Street. The northern triangle is officially known as Duffy Square and
5880-839: 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. Times Square grew dramatically after World War I . It became
6048-431: Is immediately outside the hotel; a direct entrance originally led from the basement (see The Knickerbocker Hotel § Basements ). John Jacob Astor and William Cutting bought a large tract of land in modern-day Times Square from Metcef Eden in 1803. The land comprised much of the modern-day West Side of Manhattan between 41st and 48th streets; Astor obtained the eastern half of that land, which included Broadway. By
6216-545: Is largely designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Marvin & Davis, with Bruce Price as consultant. Its primary frontages are on Broadway and 42nd Street. These facades are constructed of red brick with terracotta details and a prominent mansard roof . The Knickerbocker Hotel also incorporates an annex on 41st Street, built in 1894 as part of the St. Cloud Hotel, which formerly occupied the site. The 41st Street facade contains
6384-451: Is skipped, the thirteenth story is actually labeled as floor 14. Each story was served by its own staff and clerk. During much of the 20th century, these stories were used as office space, but by 2015 these stories were converted back to hotel suites. The fourth floor of the reconverted hotel contains Charlie Palmer at the Knick, a 100-seat full-service restaurant. The sixteenth floor contains
6552-467: 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. 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
6720-554: The British royal family . Helmsley announced that he would drop his ownership of the Knickerbocker Building in 1975, raising concerns that the building would be demolished. The other option was to renovate the space for $ 2 million, which could then be rented for $ 4.50 per square foot ($ 48.4/m). Instead, the building deed was sold for a nominal sum of $ 1, despite the building being valued at $ 4.5 million. In 1979, with
6888-883: 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. Even excluding residents from the visitor count, Times Square is the world's second most visited tourist attraction, behind the Las Vegas Strip . The high level of pedestrian traffic has resulted in $ 4.8 billion in annual retail, entertainment, and hotel sales, with 22 cents out of every dollar spent by visitors in New York City being spent within Times Square. Times Square
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7056-701: The Macklowe Hotel , Marriott Marquis , Crowne Plaza , and DoubleTree Suites. 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 . 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". The regulation also required new buildings on Times Square to include large, bright signs. The buildings at 1540 Broadway, 1585 Broadway, and 750 Seventh Avenue were completed at
7224-1006: The New York City Subway . Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored yellow since it uses the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan . The R operates local between 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens , and 95th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn , at all times except nights, when it short turns at Whitehall Street–South Ferry in Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn . The R runs via Queens Boulevard in Queens , Broadway in Manhattan, and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. One northbound a.m. rush hour trip terminates at 96th Street on
7392-522: 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. Opposition to the towers on Times Square, along with Prudential and Park Tower's inability to secure tenants for
7560-685: 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
7728-1007: The Upper East Side of Manhattan instead of 71st Avenue in Queens. The R was originally the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation 's 2 service, running along the BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn then traveling through the Montague Street Tunnel to Manhattan, then running local on the BMT Broadway Line. The 2 became the RR in 1961. The RR ran local along the BMT Astoria Line in Queens, terminating at Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard until it switched terminals with
7896-668: The Vince Lombardi Trophy . The area was under increased security and witnessed over 400,000 people during the period. 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. The New York state government has yet to act on the proposal. 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
8064-406: The mansard roof , which is clad in green copper. There are also urns at the corners of the roof. Originally, the dormer windows from the mansard roof contained elaborate pediments, although these were likely removed by 1920. The thirteenth floor windows' pediments were either triangular or segmentally arched. The fourteenth floor windows' pediments were round-arched. A penthouse on the fifteenth floor
8232-552: 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 . 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
8400-654: 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 . 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". The area acquired
8568-525: 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. As early as 1960, 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues was described by The New York Times as "the 'worst' [block] in town". Later that decade, Times Square was depicted in Midnight Cowboy as gritty, depraved, and desperate. Conditions only worsened in
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#17327905741378736-687: The 1970s and 1980s, as did the crime in the rest of the city, with a 1981 article in Rolling Stone magazine calling 42nd Street in Times Square the "sleaziest block in America". 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. The block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues had 2,300 crimes per year in 1984, of which 20% were felonies. In this era, formerly elegant movie theaters began to show x-rated films , and peep shows hustlers were common. In 1984,
8904-518: 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. Times Square started hosting other major annual events in the 2000s. Since 2002, the summer solstice has been marked by "Mind over Madness",
9072-500: The 3,000 pounds of biodegradable confetti dropped at midnight, a tradition of which started in 1992. 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. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City during 2020 reduced
9240-597: The Astor land within Times Square in 1890, at which point the area contained many small buildings, which sat on land leased from the Astors. In 1892, John Jacob Astor IV acquired the lease of the Hotel St. Cloud for $ 850,000. With transit improvements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New York City's theater district relocated from further south in Manhattan to modern-day Times Square. The construction of theaters led to
9408-635: The BMT Nassau Street Line and 86th Street on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, using the Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River , and running via Fourth Avenue local. Service on the BMT Broadway Line, which at the time ran only between Whitehall Street–South Ferry and Times Square–42nd Street , began exactly two years later on January 15, 1918. On July 10, 1919, service was extended to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue with
9576-513: The EE was discontinued, with the N being extended to Forest Hills on weekdays to replace it. On January 24, 1977, as part of a series of NYCTA service cuts to save $ 13 million, many subway lines began running shorter trains during middays. As part of the change, RR trains began running with six cars between 10:45 a.m. and 2:05 p.m. In 1979, the MTA released a revised coloring scheme; RR service
9744-595: The F ran local east of 71st Avenue at all times, thus eliminating express service along Hillside Avenue. After the six months, the change was kept because there was minimal negative passenger reaction and because of the intensity of the request, even though 77% of passengers had benefited from the pre-October 1992 service plan. The change increased travel time along the F by 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 minutes, and reduced travel time for passengers at local stations by one to two minutes. In October 2000, late-night shuttle trains in Brooklyn began skipping 53rd Street and 45th Street in
9912-492: The Great White Way ". 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, where Seventh Avenue intersects Broadway . Broadway similarly intersects other north–south avenues at Union Square , Madison Square , Herald Square , and Verdi Square , none of which are squares. The area
10080-439: The Hotel Knickerbocker, and media magnate William Randolph Hearst launched his failed campaign for the 1909 New York City mayoral election at the Knickerbocker. The popular hotel bar gained the nickname "The 42nd Street Country Club". According to a legend, the martini was invented at the Knickerbocker in 1912 by Martini di Arma di Taggia, a hotel bartender who mixed dry vermouth and gin for John D. Rockefeller . The legend
10248-578: The Hotel Knickerbocker, and some applicants sought the entire building. At the time, the surrounding section of Broadway was quickly being developed for commercial purposes. The Hotel Knickerbocker closed on May 28, 1920. Vincent Astor, Nicholas Biddle, and S. B. Thorn formed the Knickerbocker Holding Company on June 14, 1920, two weeks after the hotel's closure. The Bank for Savings loaned the company $ 3 million in October 1920 for
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#173279057413710416-481: The IRCC was given a year to repay its outstanding obligations should it choose to resume construction. In the meantime, Astor commissioned new plans for the interior design. During this time, the only revenue from the Hotel Knickerbocker was coming from the billboards around it. At the time, the public did not know why work had stopped. The neighborhood had also changed significantly, and the original plans no longer fit with
10584-531: The Knickerbocker Building's former function as a hotel was forgotten by the public; the name "Knickerbocker Hotel" even became associated with another subsequently shuttered hotel on 45th Street. When the Knickerbocker Building became the headquarters of Newsweek magazine in October 1940, it was renamed the Newsweek Building . Also in the 1940s, an employment agency and art office. The Ryan Hotel structure at 140 West 42nd Street, which had been part of
10752-565: The Knickerbocker Hotel Company (KHC), serving as the KHC's managing director with Jesse Lewisohn and Godfrey Hyams as co-directors. Astor contracted Regan to be the hotel's manager when it was finished, but Regan resigned from the KHC over disputes with the other directors. In February 1904, just as the facade and steel skeleton was completed, construction was halted after the IRCC defaulted on its payments. Contractually,
10920-541: The Knickerbocker's rooftop, tickets to the New Year's Eve ball drop viewings can cost tens of thousands of dollars per person. In 1901, the New York City Department of Buildings received plans for three hotels, one theater, and fourteen apartment buildings on Times Square. Among those plans was a 14-story hotel designed by Bruce Price and Martin & Davis, to be built on the site of the St. Cloud Hotel at Broadway and 42nd Street. The new hotel, known as
11088-419: The Knickerbocker, including in 1912, when the hotel's in-house violinist Albert de Brahms killed his wife and tried to seal her body in plaster. The enactment of Prohibition in 1919 resulted in a marked decline in business at the Knickerbocker's restaurants and bars. By late 1919, Regan had given over operation of the hotel to his son, James E. Regan Jr., though the senior Regan retained the lease. In May 1920,
11256-464: The Knickerbocker, was intended as a rival to the Hotel Astor , also owned by the Astor family. The Knickerbocker was to be a Renaissance Revival hotel with a similar arrangement to other hotels of the time. In addition to service facilities across two basement levels and dining and banquet facilities on the first and second floors, the Hotel Knickerbocker was planned with 600 suites and 300 baths. At
11424-484: The MTA considered three options to improve service at these local stops, including leaving service as is, having E trains run local east of 71st Avenue along with R service, and having F trains run local east of 71st Avenue replacing R service, which would be cut back to 71st Avenue at all times. The third option was chosen to be tested for six months starting in October or November 1992. On October 26, 1992, R trains were cut back to 71st Avenue at all times, and in its place,
11592-820: The Manhattan Bridge, and the Fourth Avenue express tracks. On November 27, 1967, the day after the Chrystie Street Connection opened, the RR was moved back to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard on the BMT Astoria Line. Replacing it on the Queens Boulevard Line was the new EE service, running weekdays only between Forest Hills–71st Avenue and Whitehall Street (with additional trains terminating at Canal Street). The Nassau Street specials, which could no longer run as
11760-492: The Midtown street grid. The pedestrian plaza project was originally opposed by local businesses, who thought that closing the street to cars would hurt business. 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
11928-458: The N in 1987. The RR became the R in 1985. After 1987, the R ran via the IND Queens Boulevard Line to Forest Hills, Queens. A variant of the RR/R, from Bay Ridge to Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan via the BMT Nassau Street Line , ran from 1967 until 1987. The current R service is the successor to the original route 2 of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation. When 2 service began on January 15, 1916, it ran between Chambers Street on
12096-705: The N/R swap, the Nassau R used East New York Yard equipment. This rush hour service was discontinued on November 20, 1987. On May 24, 1987, the northern terminals of the N and R were swapped. The swap placed the R along the IND Queens Boulevard Line to Forest Hills–71st Avenue once again, with the N replacing it in Astoria. The change was made to give the R direct access to the Jamaica Yard (where
12264-646: The Nassau Street Line was discontinued on Saturdays. In the winter of 1960–61, letter designations started to appear on the route with the introduction of the R27s , which featured it on roll signs. The route was labeled the RR "Fourth Avenue Local via Tunnel". This was in accordance with the Independent Subway System 's lettering system, which gave double letters to local trains and single letters to express trains. On January 1, 1961,
12432-538: The New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. Four towers designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee were to be built around 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue. These towers would have been redeveloped by George Klein of Park Tower Realty, though the Prudential Insurance Company of America joined
12600-413: The Queens Boulevard Line between Union Turnpike and 179th Street . Evening R service originating from 95th Street after 8:30 pm on weekdays and after 9 pm on weekends was cut back from 71st Avenue to Queens Plaza . In August 2023, it was announced that midday headways on the R would be reduced to eight minutes although the MTA delayed the service increase until early 2024. The following table shows
12768-403: The Queens Boulevard Line's express tracks. E trains began running express east of Continental Avenue, skipping 75th Avenue and Van Wyck Boulevard at all times. The R was extended from Continental Avenue to 179th Street to provide local service; this allowed F trains to continue running express to 179th Street, and F trains skipped 169th Street between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. During
12936-614: The Queens–Manhattan section was extended to Whitehall Street–South Ferry. On December 21, full service was restored between Manhattan and Brooklyn after the Montague Street Tubes were drained. However, from August 2, 2013, to fall 2014, the tunnel was closed again so that extra repairs could be completed, bringing back similar storm changes to the R train. On weekdays, the divided R ran in two sections: one section between Forest Hills and Whitehall Street–South Ferry, and
13104-517: The R route in half, similar to the pattern enacted during the Montague Street Tunnel closures in 2013 and 2014, citing the route's length and unreliability. This proposal has been met with criticism from local riders, mostly because it would eliminate a one-seat ride into Manhattan. On March 17, 2023, New York City Transit made adjustments to evening and late night E , F and R service to accommodate long-term CBTC installation on
13272-405: The R was cut back to 71st Avenue outside of rush hours. Local service to 179th Street was replaced by F trains, which provided Queens Boulevard Express service during middays, evenings, and weekends. Late-night R service became a shuttle between 36th Street/Fourth Avenue and 95th Street in Brooklyn; during this time, service along Queens Boulevard to 179th Street was replaced by G service. In 1992,
13440-475: The R. R service on the Broadway Line continued to use a yellow bullet, while the special Chambers Street–Bay Ridge rush-hour service was signed with a brown diamond with a white R inside, matching the J and M services using the BMT Nassau Street Line. Starting on April 28, 1986, R service on the Nassau Street Line was extended to Metropolitan Avenue for layups and put-ins from Fresh Pond Yard . After
13608-490: The RR's northern terminus was relocated to its current location at Forest Hills–71st Avenue, via the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection , also known as the "11th Street Cut", and the IND Queens Boulevard Line. Night and weekend RR trains still terminated at 57th Street in Manhattan. Evening rush hour Fourth Avenue–Nassau trains went back to the routing that was used prior to 1959, in which trains ran from Broad Street to 95th Street via
13776-651: The Sixth Avenue Line during late nights. In 1986, the TA studied which two services should serve the line during late nights as ridership at this time did not justify three services. A public hearing was held in December 1986, and it was determined that having the E and R run during late nights provided the best service. On December 11, 1988, the Archer Avenue Lines opened, and the E was rerouted to its current terminus at Jamaica Center via
13944-510: The afternoon rush hour to reduce confusion for Queens-bound riders. The 1988 changes angered some riders because they resulted in the loss of direct Queens Boulevard Express service at local stations east of 71st Avenue—namely the 169th Street, Sutphin Boulevard, Van Wyck Boulevard and 75th Avenue stations. Local elected officials pressured the MTA to eliminate all-local service at these stations. As part of service cuts on September 30, 1990,
14112-475: The alternate addresses 1462–1470 Broadway, 6 Times Square, and 142 West 42nd Street, with a small annex extending south to 143 West 41st Street. The building occupies a land lot covering 19,800 square feet (1,840 m), with frontages of about 135 feet (41 m) on Broadway to the west and about 185 feet (56 m) on 42nd Street to the north. The frontage on 41st Street is only 17 feet (5.2 m) wide. The Knickerbocker Hotel wraps around 8 Times Square at
14280-476: The area was so derelict and dilapidated, that the entire Times Square area paid the city only $ 6 million in property taxes (equivalent to $ 17.6 million in 2023). 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
14448-426: The artist Jason Peters, and shortly afterward were replaced by sturdier metal furniture. 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. On February 11, 2010, Bloomberg announced that the pedestrian plazas would become permanent. The city started rebuilding
14616-468: The basement was leased in December 1920 and continued to operate after the hotel's closure. The Old King Cole painting was loaned to the Racquet and Tennis Club on Park Avenue by 1925 before being installed permanently at the St. Regis Hotel in 1935. By early 1921, the old Hotel Knickerbocker had become known as the Knickerbocker Building. While the storefront at the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street
14784-417: The beginning of the early 1990s recession , when 14.5 percent of Manhattan office space was vacant. Furthermore, some 9 × 10 ^ sq ft (840,000 m ) of office space in the western section of Midtown had been developed in the 1980s, of which only half had been leased. Consequently, 1540 Broadway was completely empty, while 1585 Broadway and 750 Seventh Avenue had one tenant each, despite
14952-496: The biggest electric sign "in the world," cost $ 9,000 per month to rent. Some contemporary critics, such as Thorstein Veblen and G. K. Chesterton , disliked the advertising at Times Square. Fritz Lang , after seeing Times Square in 1923, used it as inspiration for his dark industrial film Metropolis . Entertainment icons such as Irving Berlin , Charlie Chaplin , and Fred Astaire were closely associated with Times Square in
15120-406: The building in 2006 to Istithmar Hotels, an investment group from the royal family of Dubai , for $ 300 million. Istithmar announced plans to convert the building back into a five-star hotel with between 250 and 300 rooms. However, by late 2009, Istithmar was unable to fulfill its debt obligation. Istithmar surrendered the property to its lender, Danske Bank , in March 2010. Danske subsequently resold
15288-442: The building to a joint venture of Highgate Holdings, Ashkenazy Acquisitions, and Stanley Chera . FelCor Lodging Trust, a Texas real estate investment trust , acquired a 95 percent stake in the third through sixteenth floors for $ 109 million. The purchase took place in late 2011, although the acquisition was not announced until February 2012. The retail condominium on the first two floors was still owned by Ashkenazy. FelCor renovated
15456-429: The buildings having over 2 × 10 ^ sq ft (190,000 m ) of office space between them. Entertainment conglomerate Bertelsmann bought 1540 Broadway in 1992, spurring a revival of Times Square in the early 1990s. This was hastened when financial firm Morgan Stanley bought 1585 Broadway in 1993, followed by 750 Seventh Avenue in 1994. The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), an agency of
15624-411: The busiest in the New York City Subway system, transporting more than 200,000 passengers daily. Formerly known as Longacre Square , Times Square was renamed in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the then newly erected Times Building, now One Times Square . It is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop , which began on December 31, 1907, and continues to attract over
15792-409: The center of the second floor was a double-height ballroom measuring 50 by 105 feet (15 by 32 m). The ballroom had hardwood floors; copies of old portraits on the walls; and white, blue, and silver decorations. The adjoining foyer had satin velvet decoration with gold-painted pillars and a gold-leaf ornamented ceiling. There was also a nurse's hall and eight private dining rooms on that story. One of
15960-483: The contract for the hotel's construction in December 1901, and Astor loaned $ 1.65 million to the IRCC in March 1902. Under the IRCC, the project began in 1901 or 1902. Under the contract between Astor and the IRCC, Astor reserved the right to name the hotel operator when it was complete. James B. Regan, former manager of the adjacent Pabst Hotel , leased the site from the IRCC for seventeen years in July 1902. Regan had formed
16128-433: The conversion of the old Hotel Knickerbocker into an office building. Astor hired architect Charles A. Platt to design the office conversion. The hotel interiors were completely gutted and the ground level was converted to fourteen storefronts. The rest of the building was rebuilt as an office building, with rents from $ 4 to $ 5 per square foot ($ 43 to $ 54/m). The walls of the old suites were moved or removed. The grill room in
16296-685: The corner of Broadway and 41st Street. The site is adjacent to 5 Times Square and Times Square Tower to the west, One Times Square to the northwest, 4 Times Square to the north, the Bank of America Tower and Stephen Sondheim Theatre to the northeast, and the Bush Tower to the east. An entrance to the New York City Subway 's Times Square–42nd Street station , served by the 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , <7> , N , Q , R , W , and S trains,
16464-448: The development of other entertainment facilities such as hotels, dance halls, and restaurants. Furthermore, the Knickerbocker site was adjacent to the city's first subway line , providing access from the rest of the city. The Knickerbocker Hotel, completed in 1906, was designed by Marvin & Davis with consulting architect Bruce Price . The structure was largely designed in the Beaux-Arts style. The annex on 143 West 41st Street, which
16632-416: The double-story ballroom. The 42nd Street facade was also modified to include a portico. The hotel ultimately cost $ 3.5 million. The Knickerbocker opened to private guests on October 23, 1906, and to the general public the following day. Astor wanted the Knickerbocker to compete with luxury hotels on Fifth Avenue , although the prices at the Knickerbocker were much cheaper. At the time of the hotel's opening,
16800-400: The entire Brooklyn portion of the route. As part of the changes, these short-turns were extended to 95th Street. Starting November 6, 2017, one northbound R trip was diverted to serve the then-new Second Avenue Subway in order to increase service on that line during the morning rush hour. In February 2019, in the midst of a transit crisis , several Bay Ridge politicians proposed splitting
16968-516: The existing buildings. 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. In 1998, the alliance opened a tourist information center in the former Embassy Theatre at 1560 Broadway;
17136-487: 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 . 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
17304-587: The four signature suites were named the Caruso, Cohan, Martini, and Parrish suites, after prominent personalities of the old hotel. The hotel reopened on February 12, 2015, as the Knickerbocker Hotel. The rooftop bar, the St. Cloud, opened in June 2015. The old subway entrance in the basement remained shuttered, and several of the original hotel's works of art, such as Old King Cole , were not restored in
17472-468: The fourth story, while more substantial cornices run above the ninth and eleventh stories. At Broadway, the center bay contains an arched pediment above the fourth-story window that interrupts the cornice above it. The ninth story cornice is supported by decorative brackets while the eleventh story cornice is supported by modillions . All three cornices have lost some of their original decorative elements. The thirteenth through fifteenth stories are part of
17640-523: The home of Enrico Caruso and George M. Cohan , shuttered in 1920 following a decrease in business. The building was then converted to offices, becoming known as the Knickerbocker Building. It was the home of Newsweek magazine from 1940 to 1959 during which it was called the Newsweek Building. After major renovations in 1980, it became known as 1466 Broadway and was used as garment showrooms and offices. Following another renovation in 2001, it
17808-701: The horse and carriage trade was centered in that city. William Henry Vanderbilt owned and ran the American Horse Exchange there. In 1910, it became the Winter Garden Theatre. 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
17976-463: The hotel "adds a pinch of sophistication to Times Square. Yet, with its sleek, low-slung furnishings and neutral palette, the interiors are the antithesis of Beaux Arts, and Bellhops in baggy knickerbockers and chunky Doc Martens set the tone the moment you arrive." A reviewer for Oyster.com also contrasted the hotel's Renaissance-style exterior and modern interior, saying: "Some guests find this minimalist style cold and uninviting, especially paired with
18144-483: The hotel's central location, large rooms, and rooftop bar, but criticized the fact that it lacked a pool and a spa. Explanatory notes Inflation figures Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City . It is formed by the junction of Broadway , Seventh Avenue , and 42nd Street . Together with adjacent Duffy Square , Times Square
18312-718: The information center operated until 2014. 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
18480-446: The junior Regan announced the hotel would be closed at the end of the month and converted to an office building. Although the senior Regan's lease had more than fifteen years left to run, he surrendered it to Vincent Astor. At the time, the residents included James Regan Jr. and his wife Alice Joyce , as well as Caruso and his family. Immediately upon the announcement of the hotel's closure, several commercial tenants made bids for space in
18648-417: The kitchen. The ice machines could make up to 8 short tons (7.1 long tons; 7.3 t) of ice daily, and a pneumatic cleaning system served the whole hotel. The subbasement contained the mechanical plant with boilers, coal storage bins, electrical generators, water filters, an ice-making plant, and an engine room. The wine vault, cigar vault, baggage room, and laundry facility were also in the subbasement. At
18816-436: The lack of seating in the lobby." Conversely, a reviewer for Fodor's said the hotel provided a "serene counterpoint to the mass of people, lights, and excitement that converge at the crossroads of Broadway and 42nd Street". A critic for Business Insider wrote in 2020: "It's comparable in price to other big brand hotels but offers a sleeker, more boutique vibe, with upscale rooms and five-star service." Visitors also praised
18984-523: The larger BMT trains, and the BMT's Astoria Shuttle was replaced with service from the 2 Fourth Avenue Line operating from Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens to Bay Ridge–95th Street in Brooklyn at all times. On June 29, 1950, special rush hour trains began running between Bay Ridge–95th Street and Chambers Street via the south side of the Manhattan Bridge and/or the Montague Street Tunnel. The special rush hour trains were discontinued two years later. On June 28, 1952, special service from 95th Street to
19152-469: The largest gathering in Times Square since August 1945 during celebrations marking the end of World War II . On December 31, 1907, a ball signifying New Year's Day was first dropped at Times Square, 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
19320-463: The late 19th century, the Knickerbocker's site was occupied by the Hotel St. Cloud, which opened in 1868 at Broadway and 42nd Street. At the time, it was relatively far from the developed portions of Manhattan. Grand Central Depot , predecessor of Grand Central Terminal , was developed nearby in 1871, resulting in the growth of the surrounding neighborhood. Members of the Astor family decided to divide
19488-673: The limestone and terracotta ornamentation has been replaced with similar-looking concrete. Along 42nd Street, the outermost four bays are grouped into slightly projecting "corner pavilions", flanking the center seven bays. The two center bays on each corner pavilion are paired. The Broadway facade is nine bays wide and lacks projecting corner pavilions. Each window is flanked by stone quoins . The fourth, sixth, seventh, and eleventh-story windows contain either decorative iron balcony rails or stone balustrades. The pediments atop windows on each story are variously made of segmental arches, sculptured decorations, or swans' necks. A small cornice runs above
19656-469: The line. At one time, including during 1931, additional midday service operated local between 57th Street and Whitehall Street–South Ferry. The 2 also used the Nassau Street Loop during rush hours, entering Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge or Montague Street Tunnel and leaving via the other. On October 17, 1949, the platform edges on the BMT Astoria Line had been shaved back to accommodate
19824-649: The lowest four stories while the other stories would have been residential lofts. The commercial market quickly recovered and the space was instead rented as showrooms and studios for companies in the Garment District . The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1980, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Knickerbocker Building as
19992-406: The morning rush hour, four R trains went into service at Continental Avenue, because local ridership from 179th Street during rush hours did not warrant it. All R trains went to 179th Street during the afternoon rush to avoid taking loaded R trains out of service at Continental Avenue. Two service plans were identified prior to a public hearing on February 25, 1988, concerning the service plan for
20160-417: The nearby Astor and Rector hotels, "created something of an architectural ensemble clustered around Times Square". Regan also began providing free toiletries to guests without baggage in 1907, and he even allowed guests to borrow formal attire for dinners. The Armenonville restaurant, a 600-seat cafe on the ground floor, opened in June 1908. The 42nd Street frontage was slightly rebuilt in 1910 when 42nd Street
20328-474: The new extension. The first would have split rush-hour E service between the two branches, with late night service to 179th Street provided by the R, while the second would have had all E trains run via Archer Avenue and would have extended R locals to 179th Street. A modified version of the second plan was decided upon: some E trains would run from 179th Street instead of Archer Avenue during morning rush hours, though all E trains would run to Archer Avenue during
20496-483: 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. Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. to construct a subway station there, and the area was renamed "Times Square" on April 8, 1904. Just three weeks later, the first electrified advertisement appeared on
20664-480: The northbound direction. This was so shuttle trains could terminate more quickly at 36th Street–Fourth Avenue, their northern terminal. Previously, all northbound B, N and R trains had stopped at the same track at 36th Street, which resulted in delays because it took several minutes for the R trains to be cleared. On September 11, 2001 , after the attack on the World Trade Center , the BMT Broadway Line
20832-450: 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. 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). Times Square
21000-463: The office market in a slump, Helmsley, David Baldwin, and Jack Vickers were planning to convert the office building to residential lofts . As part of the project, Helmsley, Baldwin, and Vickers were to relocate the building's main entrance from 152 West 42nd Street to 1466 Broadway, constructing a new lobby on Broadway. Libby, Ross & Whitehouse designed the new lobby and converted the interior to 113 units. Stores and commercial space would have been on
21168-548: The opening of that station. The Montague Street Tunnel and the 60th Street Tunnel both opened on August 1, 1920. At that time, the 2 service was rerouted from the Manhattan Bridge to the Montague Street Tunnel, running local from Queensboro Plaza in Queens to 86th Street–Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The Bay Ridge–95th Street station opened on October 31, 1925, and became the service's new southern terminus. During this time, rush-hour specials to Chambers Street were sporadically added and removed, eventually becoming an addition to
21336-484: The original Knickerbocker Hotel but not the subsequent office building, was sold in 1944 to an investor who intended to modify that structure heavily. Vincent Astor continued to own the Newsweek Building until 1957, until it was sold to a client of Bernard H. Kayden. The underlying land was simultaneously sold to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, a subsidiary of Harry Helmsley 's Helmsley-Spear company and Irving S. Wolper, for $ 2.75 million. In early 1959, Newsweek signed
21504-694: The original interior design, having been installed as a way to enhance the interior character at a relatively low cost. A critic for the Architectural Record praised the interior design, saying: "There are few hotels in the country in the appearance of which such uniform good taste has been displayed", although the same critic took issue with the interior layout. Connecting the various floors were four passenger elevators and four freight and service elevators. The original hotel had five hundred clocks, which were made in Paris and maintained by an employee who
21672-526: The other between Court Street and Bay Ridge–95th Street. On weekends, the R train ran its full route via the Manhattan Bridge, skipping all stations between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue . The weekday service between Forest Hills and Whitehall Street essentially recreated the former EE route from 1967 to 1976. Originally slated to open by October 2014, the tunnel reopened a few weeks early, on September 15, 2014, and several million dollars under budget. Beginning on November 5, 2016, late-night R service
21840-415: The outdoors smoking ban to the area. The measure imposed a $ 50 fine for any person caught smoking within the area. 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
22008-499: The plaza in 2010, hiring the design and landscaping firm Snøhetta to permanently replace Broadway's roadway with custom-made granite pavers and benches. 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. The project was originally intended to be completed by the end of 2015. The entire project
22176-442: The private dining rooms was a "gold room" with gold cutlery for 48 guests, in addition to china from Sèvres . During the 1920 alterations, the lobby spaces were removed, but a pink marble-clad elevator lobby was added on the ground floor. The lowest two stories were also converted to a retail condominium. Remnants from the original design include a vaulted ceiling above the elevator lobby, decorated with rosettes , but hidden above
22344-466: The project in 1986. 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. In 1990,
22512-415: The property for an additional $ 115 million, completely gutting it, with the exception of the facade. The hotel's new interior was designed by architecture and interior design firm Gabellini Sheppard Associates, with Peter Poon Architects as the architect of record. The new design was intended to both evoke the original hotel and represent Times Square's 21st-century revival. In a gesture to the hotel's history,
22680-500: The proposal. 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. There have been several incidents in Times Square: Times Square is the most visited place globally with 360,000 pedestrian visitors a day, amounting to over 131 million a year. As of 2013 , it had a greater attendance than each of
22848-555: The proposed buildings, led government officials to allow Prudential and Park Tower to postpone the project in 1992. By then, Prudential had spent $ 300 million on condemning the sites through eminent domain . The partners retained the right to develop the sites in the future, and the ESDC's zoning guidelines remained in effect. 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
23016-420: The remodeling of the modern shuttle station, the damaged Knickerbocker marble lintel was to be replaced with a replica. The modern doorway leads to a subway manhole with mechanical equipment rather than to the Knickerbocker's basement. The original design had a lobby facing 42nd Street, with marble columns, bronze pendant lanterns, and red-and-gold foyer decorations. The lobby had a statue of Father Knickerbocker,
23184-416: The renovated Knickerbocker Hotel. The ground level of the Knickerbocker Hotel building continued to house commercial uses, such as one of the last-ever locations of Toys "R" Us , which operated as a pop-up location in 2017 and 2018. After the Knickerbocker Hotel reopened in 2015, it received mixed reviews. A critic for British newspaper The Daily Telegraph gave the Knickerbocker a 7/10 rating, saying that
23352-449: The right to acquire the sites at the southwest and southeast corners of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue for $ 330 million. 5 Times Square was completed on the southwest-corner site in 2002, and Times Square Tower opened on the southeast-corner site in 2004. 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
23520-418: The safety of the area. 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. The neighborhood has
23688-585: The side of a bank at the corner of 46th Street and Broadway. The north end later became Duffy Square, and the former Horse Exchange became the Winter Garden Theatre , constructed in 1911. The New York Times moved to more spacious offices one block west of the square in 1913 and sold the building in 1961. The old Times Building was later named the Allied Chemical Building in 1963. Now known simply as One Times Square , it
23856-466: The site at the northeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street, and he developed 4 Times Square there. 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; that building opened in 2001. In 1998, a joint venture of Klein, The Blackstone Group , and Boston Properties won
24024-410: The sixth and seventh stories and three bays on the eighth stories. The attic, on the ninth story, was constructed in 1906 and contains two dormer windows with triangular copper pediments. The modern Knickerbocker Hotel contains 330 guestrooms. Twenty-seven of the rooms are advertised as junior suites while four are labeled as signature suites. The modern Knickerbocker Hotel also contains a restaurant,
24192-511: 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
24360-459: The subway to be constructed through part of his property only if the station included a hotel entrance. Banners were originally displayed in the corridor leading to the subway. The hotel entrance was rearranged when the platform was lengthened in 1909. While the entrance was closed after the original iteration of the hotel was shuttered, the passageway to the entrance has retained much of its ornamentation, such as painted roundels . In 2019, as part of
24528-459: The surroundings. The IRCC never returned to the project and, in May 1905, Astor hired Trowbridge & Livingston to complete the interiors, with work resuming the following month. Regan also agreed to lease the hotel for twenty years at $ 300,000 per year. The new plans cost $ 1 million more than the original proposal and included an additional story. Part of the third story was demolished to make way for
24696-437: The table. The Hotel Knickerbocker was also the site of some high-profile incidents during its history. For instance, a chimpanzee dressed in human clothing walked into the lobby in 1918, prompting a panic. The next year, two men stole gems from a guest and attempted to escape through the basement, squirting tabasco sauce into the eyes of the responding patrolmen, who arrested the burglars anyway. There were also several murders at
24864-449: The time of the hotel's opening in 1906, the hotel's management advertised two direct subway entrances from the Times Square station, with one entrance intended for ladies. One doorway still exists on the platform adjacent to the 42nd Street Shuttle 's track 1, topped by a lintel containing the carved word "Knickerbocker". Before the station opened as part of the city's first subway line in 1904, John Jacob Astor IV had given permission for
25032-541: The time, the section of Broadway between 34th and 42nd streets was quickly being developed with theaters and hotels. Consequently, the Hotel Knickerbocker's construction spurred the development of other hostelries nearby. John Jacob Astor IV leased the hotel to the International Realty and Construction Company (IRCC) of Philadelphia, organized by J.E. and A.L. Pennock. Astor stipulated that the hotel had to be completed for at least $ 2 million. The IRCC received
25200-524: The top seven floors, so the company decided in late 2001 to rebrand the building as 6 Times Square, which it believed was a more prominent address. The facade was restored and the mansard roof was coated with greenish copper. Due to the complexities of the renovation, its costs increased to three times the original budget, and the renovation was completed in March 2003, three and a half years later than originally scheduled. In 2004, SL Green sold 6 Times Square to Sitt Asset Management for $ 160 million. Sitt sold
25368-482: The train is assigned to this day), and previously, R trains had to make non-passenger runs, or "deadheads", to/from the Coney Island Yard . As part of the reroute plan, F service along Queens Boulevard was discontinued during late nights (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.). Late night local service was replaced by the R, which ran as a Queens Boulevard Local at all times. F trains were cut back to 57th Street on
25536-571: Was added between 1908 and 1910 to designs by C. H. Cullen. The 41st Street facade of the Knickerbocker Hotel is eight stories tall and is designed in the Romanesque Revival style, with some ornament in the Beaux-Arts style. The facade is made of buff brick and terracotta . It was intended as a service entrance to the main Knickerbocker Hotel. The annex previously contained a second story with three bays of windows, above which runs
25704-473: Was assigned the color yellow (because it used the BMT Broadway Line). Although BMT Nassau Street Line services were colored brown, the rush hour RR service that used the Nassau Street Line was colored yellow, using a diamond bullet. The RR service via Nassau Street was referred to as the "Chambers Street Special". On May 6, 1985, the MTA eliminated double letters for local service; the RR became
25872-429: Was built in 1894 as an addition to the Hotel St. Cloud, contains a Romanesque Revival facade designed by Philip C. Brown. The 41st Street annex was intentionally incorporated into the current hotel building. The interiors were designed by Trowbridge & Livingston . The hotel measures 195 feet (59 m) tall. The Knickerbocker Hotel's Broadway and 42nd Street facades are articulated into three horizontal sections:
26040-500: Was closed for reconstruction. As a result, late night R service was extended to Pacific Street , running express between that station and 36th Street. On April 27, 2003, the frequency of Saturday morning and afternoon service was decreased, with trains running every 12 minutes instead of every 8 minutes. Trains also ran every 12 minutes on Sunday mornings and afternoons, instead of every 15 and 12 minutes on Sunday mornings, and every 10 and 8 minutes on Sunday afternoons. Late night service
26208-455: Was cut back to 36th Street when the north side of the Manhattan Bridge reopened on February 22, 2004. After Hurricane Sandy flooded the subway system, the Montague Street Tunnel was completely flooded. When service was restored, the R train was split into two sections (between Forest Hills and 34th Street–Herald Square at all times except late nights, and between Jay Street–MetroTech and Bay Ridge–95th Street at all times). On December 4,
26376-535: Was damaged, and the R service was cut back to run only south of Court Street . On September 17, R service was completely suspended, being replaced with J service in Brooklyn and Q service in Manhattan and Queens. All three trains returned to normal service by October 28. Effective December 16, 2001, to accommodate new V service, the frequency of R service during the morning rush hour was decreased, with trains running every six minutes instead of every five minutes. On September 8, 2002, Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
26544-546: Was dedicated in June 1939 to honor World War I chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy of the 69th New York Infantry Regiment . A statue by Charles Keck was dedicated in May 1937 as a memorial to Duffy. There is also a statue of composer and entertainer George M. Cohan , and the TKTS discount ticket booth for same-day Broadway and off-Broadway theaters that has been at the site since June 1973. When Manhattan Island
26712-426: Was extended north to Whitehall Street-South Ferry in order to provide a one-seat ride into Manhattan. This eliminated the need for northbound trains to skip 45th Street and 53rd Street in order to reverse on the express tracks at 36th Street . The change took place on November 5, 2016. During late weekend evenings, every other R train short turned at Whitehall Street, resulting in waiting time doubling along
26880-501: Was finally completed just before New Year's Eve 2016. Some safety bollards were also installed as part of the renovation to prevent vehicular attacks or collisions on the sidewalk. After a 2017 vehicle-ramming attack , there were calls to install more bollards along Times Square. 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. The pedestrian plaza became
27048-543: Was first lit on December 4, 2008. The new 20 Times Square development hosts the largest LED signage in Times Square at 18,000 square feet. The display is 1,000 square feet larger than the Times Square Walgreens display and one of the largest video-capable screens in the world. 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
27216-578: 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, and emptied into a deep bay in the Hudson River at the present 42nd Street. The name was retained in
27384-438: Was known as 6 Times Square. The Knickerbocker was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and was designated a New York City Landmark in 1988. It was converted back to a hotel from 2013 to 2015 under its original name. The Knickerbocker Hotel is on the southeastern corner of Broadway and 42nd Street , at the south end of Times Square , in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . It contains
27552-549: Was only used from November 1967 until July 1, 1968, when it was cut back to Chambers Street and renamed as additional RR rush-hour peak-direction service. Because track connections between the Nassau Street Loop and the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge were severed as part of the construction of the Chrystie Street Connection, these trains could not run in a loop anymore. On August 30, 1976,
27720-492: Was quickly leased to a location of the National Drug Stores Corporation, the rest of the first floor was not leased until 1924, when it became a clothing store. The New York Society of Model Engineers ' main room in the Knickerbocker Building housed a model train exhibition each year during the early 1930s. Other tenants included advertising firms, attorneys, and insurance companies. Over the years,
27888-470: Was specifically tasked with winding them each day. Little evidence remains of the original design, particularly after the first version of the hotel had been converted into an office building in 1920. On the upper stories, the only remnants of the original design were radiators and terrazzo floors. Below the lobby is a basement and subbasement, which retain their wall paneling, herringbone-patterned floors, and hexagonal white tile decorations. The basement had
28056-413: Was subsequently debunked as having originated from a 1972 book by John Doxat. The Hotel Knickerbocker was also rumored to be where the velvet rope line was invented. During dinnertime, staff used a red velvet rope to create a queue, then handed out plates to guests waiting outside. During Easter celebrations, the hotel's chef put live chicks in sugar eggs, and guests would dine while the chicks hatched onto
28224-703: Was widened, and the Armenonville restaurant was renovated. In 1911, the Knickerbocker expanded into the neighboring Ryan Hotel, adding about one hundred more suites. After John Jacob Astor IV died on the Titanic in 1912, his son Vincent Astor inherited the hotel, which continued to run successfully under James B. Regan. The Knickerbocker's heyday coincided with the rise of Times Square as the city's main theater district, with nearly 35,000 seats across 28 theaters by 1910. The Hotel Knickerbocker's residents included Metropolitan Opera singer Enrico Caruso , who took up
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