Thoughts on Times Square

As a teenaged Long Islander in the 1980s, Times Square meant one thing: Where you got a fake ID. (Just kidding any police or parents who might be reading this!)I got my first fake ID in Times Square. My second, too, I think. The technology and will to uncover fakes was not nearly as strong then as it is today, so they worked just fine so long as I wasn't in New York City. Seeing as I went to school outside Chicago, I was good.Times Square was seedy and dirty, though it also was that neon-lit monstrosity at night. You couldn't avoid the prostitutes and adult film stores. That's OK. You didn't want anyone to accidentally catch you getting a fake ID, and if you accidentally ran into someone you knew there, neither of you was gonna rat the other out.A funny thing happens to places: They change. I recall in the 1990s, when suddenly there was always a Disney musical playing on Broadway. Many of the theaters are in and around Times Square, and they had to clean up their act. One by one, the adult film stores closed. (You'll still find one or two nearly hidden, tucked between more "respectable" establishments, if you're really paying attention.) In the early 2000s, the TKTS booth turned from a little shack to a centerpiece of the northern end of Times Square, with stairs that allow you to overlook the entire zoo.The Naked Cowboy makes his home there, as do legions of Elmos, Hello Kittys (Hellos Kitty?), Cookie Monsters, and Buzz Lightyears. Their costumes look a bit ... disheveled. I'm always curious if any of the characters have specific territories blocked off. You know, so you won't have two Elmos fighting to take photos with the same tourist. Don't laugh - it could totally happen and you know it.I'm curious about the choice of costumes, too. I don't think they're officially licensed characters, so do they just choose the ones that no one's gonna come after them for? Has any ever been cited for trademark infringement?I worked for about a year in an office just north of Times Square, and I would take the subway to 50th Street so I could avoid most of the madness. I couldn't avoid all of the madness, as our office building was directly above the Hershey store. So the lobby always smelled slightly of chocolate and the teeming masses who had a desperate need to go to a store that sold only candy produced by Hershey or M&M/Mars (the M&M store was across the street, naturally) often crowded the sidewalk outside.I was invited to a lunch event taking place somewhere in Times Square one day by some friends. I hadn't paid much attention to the specific location, so by the time I realized where it was, it was too late to bow out. Besides, I was hungry. It was completely diagonally across the square, about as far as possible away from where I was. It was a gorgeous day, too - the kind of Spring weather where you could wear a leather jacket or short sleeves and be equally comfortable.Unless, of course, you were in Times Square. In that case, you'd be ready to body check the next person who shoved past you or start elbowing people in the kidneys if that didn't work. At least the food was good. But then I had to make my way back to the office. Shudder.For all that's bad and ugly about it still, there is a beauty in seeing it from above, at night. Many times, I've found myself in one of the buildings that surround the square for one event or another. As night falls and the lights shine their brightest, it takes on a surreal commercial beauty.You can't help but look at all the signs. Who's spending all this money to get their message out? How creative are they? From above, and indoors, it seems quiet and almost like a movie set.This post was inspired by going back in my emails to find a Prompt to write about today.Photo by Emanuele Bresciani via Unsplash.