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42nd Street is the only major New York City street to have been developed almost entirely in the 20th century. In 1889, Oscar Hammerstein built his Victoria Theater on the northwest corner of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue in a stable residential neighborhood, complete with brownstones, churches and public buildings. Six years later, the city's first subway line opened at Times Square and within fifteen years, both sides of 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues had become home to the world's greatest concentration of theaters, as well as to a host of other commercial establishments serving the crowds drawn by the shows. 42nd Street in 1896 |
| 42nd Street has always stayed true to its primary purspose as a good-time place. Even after Prohibition in 1919 staunched the flow of champagne in 42nd Street's glam restaurants, popular-priced eateries quickly took their place. 42nd Street took on a more democratic and middle-class aspect. Hubert's Museum, better known as the Flea Circus featured performing fleas and a shooting gallery. During the Depression, 42nd Street became a movie center. By 1934, only the New Amsterdam continued as a "legitimate" theater. Times Square in 1937 |  |
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42nd Street continued on as a premier showcase for the movie industry until the 1960s flight to the suburbs and other changes turned the street into a premier pornography district. But even as property values plunged, Times Square remained one of the many paradigms of New York City life. You couldn't get tougher, seedier or more New York than 42nd Street. Times Square in 1970. |
| 42nd Street was overdue for a facelift and in the 1980s, New York City and New York State joined together to renovate Times Square. The original plan consisted of four office towers for the Prudential Insurance Company. However, the real estate market crashed and a less expensive interim plan was put into action that would focus on renovating the old theaters and all that went with them: restaurants, stores and tourist establishments. Creative Time's 42nd Street Art Project marked the beginning of this renovation process. Artists took to the empty Times Square theaters and shops and gave them temporary lives and identities while they awaited permanent reconstruction. Times Square in 1993. |  |
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42nd Street today is a dizzying jungle of lights and signs all fighting to be louder, brighter and bigger. It's a strange and eclectic combination of Coney Island and Manhattan glam with Mom and Pop stores that look just a little too glitzy to be real. Disney has taken over the New Amsterdam Theater and the Victory Theater no longer features live nude ladies, but children's plays instead. Times Square is still changing everyday and while it has already become the tourist and family mega-center its creators hoped it would be, the final result should be strange and unexpected nonetheless. Times Square Today |
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