Tim Tompkins presents the lessons learnt by the Times Square Alliance since 1992 through the upgrade of Times Square.

1. Times Square’s
Public space
journey
An overview
Cape town, South Africa
1

14. Parks reflect surroundings
“You can neither lie to a neighbourhood park, nor reason
with it. 'Artist's conceptions' and persuasive renderings
can put pictures of life into proposed neighbourhood parks
or park malls, and verbal rationalizations can conjure up
users who ought to appreciate them, but in real life only
diverse surroundings have the practical power of inducing
a natural, continuing flow of life and use.” ― Jane Jacobs,
The Death and Life of Great American Cities

16. An evolving mission
1992
To make times square clean safe & fun
2002
To promote & improve times square so
that
it retains the creativity, energy & edge
that have made it an international icon
for over a century

17. MISSION STATEMENT
To promote and improve Times Square so
that it retains the creativity, energy and edge
that have made it an international icon for 100
years.
Dynamic – Times Square will always be about energy and constant change
Distinctive – unlike any other place in the world, with its own special edge
Diverse – a mix of commerce, culture, and all the peoples of NYC and the world
Desirable – a safe, attractive and appealing place
Destination – a place that everyone – from NYC, NY state, the country and the world
feels is the pace to be, see and be seen

19. What Changed Times Square
„ Economic
Development tools
„ Tax reductions
„ State buys land
„ Public/private financing
„ Cross subsidy

20. What Changed Times Square
„ Zoning (Land Use
regulations)
• Increased density
• Lights & signs
• Dispersing adult stores

21. What Changed Times Square
„ The Times Square
Alliance

27. Clean & Safe
Sanitation:
• 185,000 bags
removed
crime down:
• 11% since 2008
• 58% since 2001
• 82% since 1992

29. Crime Statistics

30. TIMES SQUARE SURVEY
When you think of Times Square, what comes to
mind?
Employee Nationwid
NYC
s e
Crowds/Busy 35% 56% 45%
Bright Lights 34% 17% 36%
Broadway 30% 20% 23%
Tourists 26% 49% 10%
Shopping 18% 3% 12%

31. TIMES SQUARE SURVEY - “what are Biggest
drawbacks”

32. 32

33. 33

34. Pedestrian Overcrowding Produces
“Pedlock”
34

35. Study: Pedestrian Congestion Will Only Get
Worse
35

36. “Streetscape Schlock” -- It Ain’t
Pretty
36

37. It Ain’t Pretty
37

38. Comments from design trust Workshops
“It would be a big mistake if the streetscape had a sort of dulling
effect of uniformity…”
“We need to choreograph the chaos…there has to be a place
to appreciate the chaos.”
“It‟s really important that we think about scale, really grand scale
and
then also very human scale.”
“Create a place where Times Square can be observed.”
38

39. 39

40. 10 Things to Keep in Mind from the Design Trust Workshops
Balance different elements.
Recognize the diversity of who and what is here,
as well as the layers.
Create places.
Be sure to make Times Square a place where
New Yorkers want to come to.
Look for opportunities to reinforce and
recognize what is authentic, what is historic.

41. 10 Things to Keep in Mind from the Design Trust Workshops
Allow for the exhibition of creativity as a way to
express Times Square's unique qualities.
Re-think the relationships between pedestrian and
vehicular spaces.
Think of Times Square as an ever-changing theater
set, with both fixed and changing elements.
Look for ways to make the horizontal plane as
exciting and dynamic as the vertical.
...Keep it simple.

42. Expand and Rebuild Duffy Square
42

43. Create 53% More Sidewalk Space
43

44. Investigate New Ways to Regulate Traffic
Michael Fishman

45. “Wire” the Bowtie

46. Provide Spaces and Opportunities for Public
Art

47. Encourage and Recognize Higher Quality Design

48. Explore Enlivening the Horizontal
Plane

49. Reduce Sidewalk Clutter

52. „ Jan Gehl Visit
„ November 2005

53. London::New York
Pedestrian Issues Forum
June 2005

57. Times Square:
A National Perspective
February 2008

58. Putting the Heart back into Times
Square
I wish they would put some of the 56%
"New York" back into Times Square 64%
Times Square has improved 55%
dramatically over the past ten years 81%*
I would like to see more independent 52% Total U.S.
stores/mom and pop shops in Times
Square 61% Tri-State
Times Square has become just 45%
another big mall 52%
Times Square does not reflect the true 36%
quality of New York City 50%*
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
*Significantly higher than corresponding audience at the 95% level
Ranked on Total U.S.

59. Advantages/Drawbacks of Working in
Times Square
Top 5
Easy to commute to/from 92%
Advantages
Access to Broadway/theater 57%
High energy 34%
Access to entertainment (bars, comedy clubs,
22%
live music)
Diversity of people 21%
Top 5 Too many people on the sidewalks 92%
Disadvantages Feels like it's more for tourists than for New
92%
Yorkers
43% of Too costly/expensive 70%
employees are
satisfied* with Difficult to run errands 67%
working in
Times Square Noise 67%
Satisfaction = Top 2 Box Very Satisfied/Somewhat Satisfied
Base: Times Square Employees

60. Times Square Employee Coping
Mechanisms
Walked in
Which of the following have you ever done? the street
instead of
Used a the sidewalk
building (96%)
Avoided
thruway or
certain
internal
areas of
walkway to
Times
avoid traffic on
Square at
the sidewalk
certain
(84%)
times (88%)
Best Times To Be in Times Square
Best Season: Winter (January–March), Spring (April–June)
Best Day of Week: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Best Time of Day: Early morning, Late evening, After midnight
Base: Times Square Employees

61. Ranking Times Square Alliance
Initiatives
Times Square Alliance Total Tri-
Employees
U.S. State
Initiatives
Sprucing up the streets and sidewalks, making them more
attractive
1 2 3
Restricting traffic on certain streets during certain days/times
of the week so that pedestrians can walk where they want
2 2 1
3 1 2
Widening the sidewalks
4 4 4
Adding more greenery, trees, benches
Reducing the number of phone booths, newspaper racks and
other sidewalk-blocking items
5 5 5
6 6 6
Reducing the number of street vendors
1 = Top Priority 6=Lowest Priority

65. RECOGNITION FOR DUFFY SQUARE

66. RECOGNITION FOR DUFFY SQUARE
Building of the Decade ‟ New York
Magazine

67. RECOGNITION FOR DUFFY SQUARE
AWARDED
2007 NYC Art Commission, Award for Excellence
2008 New York Magazine, Best in Architecture
2009 Travel & Leisure, Best Public Place
2009 American Planning Association, William H. Whyte Award
2009 AIANY, Design Merit Award, Lumen Citation for the
Integration of Light, Architecture and Signage
2009 International Association of Lighting Designers, Lumen Award
2009 World Architecture Festival, New and Old category winner
submitted
NYC Dept. of Small Business Services, Placemaker Award
Municipal Art Society of New York
ID Magazine

69. Broadway Pedestrian
Plazas

71. TRAFFIC studies
PHILIP HABIB & ASSOCIATES, APRIL 2009
PURPOSE
Better management of public space requires clear understanding of vehicular as well as
pedestrian behavior
Early draft Findings
80,000 vehicles entered the Bowtie in a 24-hour period
26% (21,000) from Seventh Avenue, 21% (16,500) from Broadway
Theatre patron surveys
54% via public transit, 17.9% via private car, 7.3% via yellow cab
Reasons for driving: 50% “more convenient,” 28% “faster,” 11% “cheaper”
Double-parking rare among both private vehicles and commercial trucks
47% of trucks observed parked illegally, but only 4.5% double-parked

73. Broadway Pedestrian
Plazas

74. Broadway Pedestrian
Plazas

75. Broadway Pedestrian
Plazas

90. Overall opinions are
positive
8 in 10 Tri-State Area Residents
have positive opinions of the
Pedestrian Plazas in Times Square
Base: Total Tri-State Residents
Q34. What are the first words that come to mind when you think of these pedestrian plazas in Times Square?

91. Theater-Goers are positive
toward plazas, too
Impact of Times Square Pedestrian Plaza
on Theater-Going Experience
Positive Impact
No Impact
Negative Impact
Base: Total Recent Theater-Goers (past 6 mos)
--“Don’t know” responses not included
Q71. What impact has the Broadway pedestrian plaza had on each of the following: Your theater-going experience

92. Negative associations with Times Square
softening, positive ones improving
- Net Words to Describe Times Square Today + Net
2008: 92%* 2008: 83%
2009: 83% Top 5 Negative Words Top 5 Positive Words 2009: 87%*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Base: Tri-State Area Residents
* Statistically significant at 95%
Q17. Which, if any, of the following words best describe Times Square today?

94. PLAZA CONCESSIONS

95. Bow-Tie redesign

96. Bow-Tie redesign

97. WITH STEEL KIOSK

98. The Impact of TIMES SQUARE
December 2011

101. Times Square
museum &
visitor Center

102. The times square story

103. The times square story

104. The times square story

105. Museum & Visitor Center
• Reviewing content & experience
– Historical advisory council
– Secured partners for the official Times Square Walking Tour
– Exploring ways to refine experience

106. 106

107. New Year’s Eve

108. Broadway on Broadway

109. TASTE OF TIMES SQUARE –
June 11

110. PRESS COVERAGE
74,788,390 Total Circulation of Print
Coverage
61,991 Estimated viewership of ABC
Coverage
+40 Websites posted stories

111. SOLSTICE IN TIMES SQUARE –
JUNE 20

112. National Coverage, Global
Reach
PRESS COVERAGE
508, 544,601 Total Circulation of
Print/Online Coverage
12,865,902 Estimated viewership of
Broadcast Coverage
Total Media Impressions
521,410,503

113. COVERAGE
Print: 1,716,943
Broadcast Audience: 616,068
Radio: 4.2 Million
Online: 21 sites
Twitter: 27,842

117. Grate performances-Best of the Buskers

119. Valentine’s Day

120. Valentine’s Day

122. Mmmm “Meeting
bowls”
Times Square Alliance
and Hidemi Takagi
Present „Blender‟ at
Times Square
Make New Friends in
Times Square
„Meeting Bowls‟

123. Kyungwoo Chun “versus”

124. Shen Wei Dance Arts

127. COME OUT & PLAY FESTIVAL June 12-14,
2009
“HOPE” SCULPTURE
BY ROBERT INDIANA
June 4-10, 2009

128. Bright lights: big verse
• •
Sing, oh muse, of Times Square
“Poets evoke its flair for a contest celebrating the
famed New York stretch of concrete and chaos.
Poetry, poverty, preening -- it's all there as four
writers read their works on a wind-whipped night.”

129. DESIGN TIMES SQUARE LOUNGE
DUFFY SQUARE MAY 24 ‟ JUNE 15, 2009

130. Mmmm “Meeting
bowls”
Times Square Alliance
and Hidemi Takagi
Present „Blender‟ at
Times Square
Make New Friends in
Times Square
„Meeting Bowls‟

131. xploding Flowers
nd Robert Wilson
ortraits Supplant Ads
Digital Art Coming to
n Times Square
Times Square
umbotron
Times Square Moment

132. Times Square Moment

135. Philip Glass WORLD PREMIERE

138. Creating A great
public realm
- High quality design
- Well managed
- Creatively and consistently
programmed

139. Creating A great
public realm
-Partnerships
-Public & private
-Big and small
-Use each others
strengths

140. Creating A great
public realm
-Know thyself
-Love thyself
-Use data
-Build a constituency
-define the problem
-Support & advocate

141. Creating A great
public realm
- things change
- take a chance
- Try it out
- no single answer

142. public realm
-Community based
-Consistent
-Coherent
-Concentrated
-Creative
-Critical mass