Times Square is one of the busiest places on the planet, and while many may call it a tourist trap, these three secrets will make you want to visit!
TIMES SQUARE by Neuhaus
Hidden amongst the blazing billboards, honking horns, street performers, ticket hawkers, crusty costumed characters, fake monks, and tenacious tourists in New York City’s Times Square, is a seemingly secret sound installation called Times Square, by Max Neuhaus.
Originally installed in 1977, (with a brief break from 1992 to 2002), Neuhaus’s Times Square still emits an atmospheric sonic experience directly from a subway ventilation grate, and powered simply by a nearby light pole. The sensation one experiences when standing over the grate, is somewhat like suddenly NOT hearing the rest of the sounds of the city surrounding you, and instead, hearing a meditative and uninterrupted tone. It was, before it became ubiquitous, a way to experience something similar to what we take for granted with noise cancelling headphones. Almost all one can hear is the lulling and somewhat low-pitched drone, and the sounds of the city seem to fade. The effect has often been described as suddenly being transported to a much calmer and gentler version of Times Square.
Neuhaus described Times Square itself, saying: “The aural and visual environment is rich and complex. It includes large billboards, moving neon signs, office buildings, hotels, theaters, porno centers and electronic game emporiums. Its population is equally diverse, including tourists, theatregoers, commuters, pimps, shoppers, hucksters and office workers.” Over the years, after longtime maintenance by Neuhaus, himself, it is now maintained by the Dia Art Foundation.
I. MILLER BUILDING IN TIMES SQUARE
Directly overlooking Times Square, is a building that many New Yorkers often look up at, and realize they’d never really seen it before. And that makes sense, since beside the fact that New Yorkers tend to not look up as much as tourists, the façade of the building at the corner of 46th and Broadway was long covered with pollutant grime, weathering, and the garish signage scaffolding of a TGI FRIDAY’S.
The I. Miller building façade was renovated in 1926, to bear the statement “The Show Folks Shoe Shop—Dedicated to Beauty in Footwear.” Israel Miller, the building’s owner, was so enamored with modern actresses and their talents, that he polled the public for “America’s Best-Loved Actresses,” and the winners were placed into categories, with the final 4 selected being: Ethel Barrymore for Drama, Marilyn Miller for Comedy, Mary Pickford for Film, and Rosa Ponselle for Opera. If you look closely at the building, today, you can still see the likenesses and names of these celebrated and beloved actresses, who were famous over a century ago, and whose legacies even resonate, today!
In 2012, during the prime Facebook Era, public attention to the preservation and restoration of this unique businessman’s love letter to his favorite actresses, convinced the building’s owners to help reveal this remarkable frozen moment in the history of shoes, Theatre, and Times Square!
The Paramount Building
If you listen carefully, 15 minutes before curtain time, for the Broadway theatres between 43th and 44th Streets, the speakers of the Paramount Building chime out a fancy “Give My Regards to Broadway,” the 1904 Golden Age Broadway hit created and premiered by George M. Cohan (who, himself, is immortalized as a Times Square statue). The globe set atop the 35th-story roof, usually glowing a gentle white, pulses red for the quarter hours, once for the 15 minutes, twice for 30, three times for 45 minutes, and then restarting the pattern each hour. This was to help remind people in the Times Square area that their shows were about to begin, and to have them settle up their bills, use the loo, and get to their theatre queues.
The Paramount Building itself, built between 1925 and 1927, has borne witness to countless iconic and historic Broadway and Hollywood openings until 1967, when it was converted from a theatre, to office spaces. (However, many of those offices, even today, are currently still the beating heart of Broadway and Hollywood, but for the casting, production, and creation of many projects not necessarily associated any longer with the company whose name is on the building.)
Many noteworthy film premieres were hosted at the Paramount Theatre in this building, and musical acts such as Buddy Holly to Frank Sinatra, and many more.
The Paramount Building became a New York City designated landmark in 1988. Contained in its cornerstone are original newsreel footage from the Richard E. Byrd’s 1926 North pole flight, newspaper front pages, gold coins, news footage, and other things.
Its former lobby is now the space that houses the famous Hard Rock Café.