PART THREE: REBUILDING TIMES SQUARE

While Times Square continued to deteriorate throughout the 1960s into the 1980s, large scale redevelopments were being devised by the city. Most of these schemes folded, or some proved unsuccessful. The Marriott Marquis Hotel finally opened in 1985 more than ten years after its initial proposal, promising an infusion of new life and capital in the area. Instead, it had destroyed two theatres and had placed blank concrete sides at street level.1

In 1984 the city presented the 42nd Street Development Project, a subsidiary of the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC), assigned to "reclaim" the area from clutches of crime and degradation. Being the largest development effort ever undertaken by the State and City of New York, and one of the largest urban renewal programs launched in the US, it covers a 13-acre area directly around the stretch of 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues, commonly known as "the Deuce." The Times Square envisioned in the 1984 plan, consisted of four skyscrapers around the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, revitalized theatres and a hotel and shopping mall on 8th avenue.2 The subsequent designs for the office towers presented by Philip Johnson and John Burgee in 1984 received such an amount of criticism, that the entire plan was set back once again for several years. Furthermore, by the end of the 1980s, the market for office space had collapsed, rendering the proposed towers (for the time being) useless.3

42nd Street Now!
The impatience for urban renewal is reflected in the name of the interim plan that was presented in 1993; the "42nd Street Now!" project will "ensure a rapid vitalization" of the area.4 UDC hired a creative team consisting of graphic designers, lighting consultants, and architects, amongst which Robert A.M. Stern, to draft a short-term plan that would fit the area and attract investors. The plan focuses on creating a highly varied mix of retail, eating and drinking establishments, tourist attractions and entertainment. The sketches of the soon-to-be 42nd Street depict an strongly enhanced version of itself; old and new architecture juxtaposed, mixed and layered with illuminating signage intensify the collective memory of Times Square. The signage is a very serious part of the design guidelines; reports of the 42nd Street Development Project continually note that the signage is Times Square's major tourist attraction.5

The interim plan has proven to be a useful publicity tool. Despite the claim that the renewed 42nd Street will not be "a gentrified theme-park or festival market,"6 it owes much of its support to theme park giant Disney. After several months of negotiations between the city and Walt Disney Inc., the latter announced in early 1994, that it would rehabilitate and reopen the landmark New Amsterdam theatre on 42nd Street. The deal called for the city and state to lend Disney $21 million at 3 percent interest, while Disney itself spent $8 million of its own to renovate the theatre. Politician hailed the announcement, like Governor Mario M. Cuomo, who said "You're going to get rid of the filth." According to other reports, however, this had been Disney's own demand to the city before jumping in on the project in the first place.7 A new zoning law, going into effect in the fall of 1996, orders the removal of residences, churches, schools and sex related businesses from the area.

Following Disney's agreement and the passing of the zoning law, hesitation towards the project from other leading entertainment companies soon disappeared. In the same year six major hotel chains, including Hilton Hotels, Marriott Corp. and the Walt Disney Co., submitted plans for the proposed hotel at the northeast corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. Along with the proposals by the hotel chains, several other smaller companies, including restaurant concerns and theatre operators, submitted proposals to establish businesses within whatever is built on the site. For the final round of the design competition in february of 1995, designs from Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid and Arquitectonica were submitted, with the latter being approved for construction. In September of 1994, MTV declared its interest in turning three of the theatres on 42nd Street (including the Lyric theatre, the place Robert de Niro in Taxi Driver dragged Cybill Shepherd to see Swedish Marriage Manual), into an MTV Studio Complex, directly across the street from Disney's New Amsterdam. The list of well-known entertainment companies with big plans for Times Square continues: Virgin Records said it would open its largest megastore on Broadway at 45th Street; Sony intends to build a high-tech movie cineplex, seating 6000; Madame Tussaud's will open its first animatronics wax museum outside Europe.8

The 42nd Street Development Project owes its success in part to many of the other organizations working to improve the area. In 1992 the Times Square Business Improvement District (the BID) was established by area businesses and community leaders to ensure make the neighborhood clean, safe, and friendly. The BID put its own sanitation workers and public safety officers in the street, and received $1.5 million from the Times Square Public Purpose Fund to improve the sidewalk lighting in the area.9 The New 42nd Street Inc., originally established as the 42nd Street Entertainment Corporation in 1990, was given direct charge of six of the 42nd Street theatres, which have been by the City and State. Serving as the theatres' landlord, it was assigned to assemble and select a mix of commercial and nonprofit tenants and operators and furthermore promote the block's entertainment and cultural offerings.10