Times Square is known worldwide for its bright lights, busy streets and diverse mixture of New Yorkers and tourists from all over the world. It’s constantly bustling with one-time visitors, starry-eyed actors and disgruntled New Yorkers rushing to work because, let’s be honest, real New Yorkers hate Times Square.
We detest the crowded streets; we get the slightest urge to throw elbows at the tourists stopping to take pictures in front of the New Year’s Eve ball; we don’t even acknowledge the tour guides constantly asking if we want a tour of New York from a double-decker bus – because if there is one thing we all have in common it’s that we have places to be.
Somehow the history of Times Square has escaped us and left us with nothing but contempt for it’s overwhelming fame. Behind these flashing lights are great stories and establishments that are over 100 years old – places that even New Yorkers would be interested in seeing. These stories still remain in The Lyceum Theatre, The Shubert Theater, Sardi’s Restaurant, and Hotel Carter.
The Lyceum Theatre was built in 1903 and is one of two of Broadway’s oldest theaters still running. Although the Lyceum is almost 110 years old, it still holds most of its original designs with an elaborate exterior and marble staircases on the interior.
Most of the world may recognize this building from seeing it on their television sets on New Year’s Eve, but many do not know its original purpose. One Times Square once housed the New York Times for close to 10 years before moving to a new building.
The Shubert Theater opened in 1913 and was named after Sam. S. Shubert, one of three brothers in a theatrical family. The theater still holds the record for the longest running show in Broadway history – A Chorus Line, which ran from 1975 to 1990.
Sardi’s might be a tourist trap that many New Yorkers try to avoid with its celebrity caricatures and extreme popularity, but this was not Vincent Sardi, Sr.’s first restaurant. Originally titled The Little Restaurant in 1921, Sardi, Sr. was bought the Shubert brothers after the building was scheduled for demolition in 1926.
The Hotel Carter is the oldest hotel in Times Square and building began in May 1929 – before the stock market crash – and once housed a bus terminal inside. However, the terminal was forced to close after the Port Authority Bus Terminal opened. Today the hotel is marketed towards the middle-class and their website claims to be “the best value you will find in New York City.”
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