10 key facts about Times Square

1. Formerly named Longacre Square, it was renamed in 1904 after the New York Times moved its headquarters to the Times Building (now One Times Square).
2. Nicknames include ‘The Crossroads of the World‘ and ‘The Great White Way’.
3. The 1929 stock market crash took its toll on the area, with many businesses moving out of the area to be replaced with seedier forms of entertainment.
4. A slow but steady push to clean up Times Square in the 1990s was led by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani – a process referred to as the ‘Disneyfication’.
5. On New Year’s Eve, an estimated one million people congregate in the square to celebrate the ‘Dropping of the Ball’.
6. It is estimated that more than 39 million people visit Times Square annually.
7. More than 200,000 people commute through the Times Square 42nd Street station every day (as of 2014).
8. The location has been used in scores of films, including Vanilla Sky when it is depicted as eerily quiet, and a post-apocalyptic version in I Am Legend.
9. It is famous for its electric, neon and illuminated signs including Coca-Cola, Toshiba and the curved NASDAQ sign.
10. It is also the location of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated photographs – the V-J Day kiss, depicting a U.S. Navy sailor kissing a woman in a white dress.