Times Square

NEW YORK -- The ghosts of showman Florenz Ziegfeld and pornography star Linda Lovelace haunt the boarded-up theaters along 42nd Street. But the magic of a billionaire mouse offers this tawdry strip the best chance of recapturing its glorious past."

NEW YORK -- Every New Year's Eve, as millions watch in person and on television, a descending red ball atop the Allied Chemical Building in Times Square counts off the seconds remaining in the old year.At times of great national joy, such as the end of World Wars I and II, hordes of celebrants have gathered in this famous square. And every day of the year, at least a half million New York City visitors find their way to Times Square, drawn as irresistibly to this urban caldron of humanity as a hummingbird is drawn to a flower.

NEW YORK -- The year was 1960. Chubby Checker was doing the Twist, Sen. John F. Kennedy was headed for the White House, and Carmen Bilbao, a student at New York University, walked to a movie in Times Square. "It was a better time," she recalls. "I thought it was safe."Then, in the old Apollo Theater on West 42nd Street, Bilbao made the mistake of placing her pocketbook on the empty seat next to hers, making it an easy mark for the thief who lay in wait until the lights went down.So began a curious tale, extending nearly 40 years, for Bilbao and dozens of others who were victimized by a petty criminal (or criminals)

NEW YORK -- It is the most Manhattan of shows, and here comes the cast, walking down marble staircases and onto the lobby's terrazzo floor, their faces lighted by the gilt ceiling and original chandeliers: the flight attendant looking for a taxi to Kennedy, the recovering homeless crack head headed for a counseling job, the struggling actress late for the rehearsal of her own one-woman play about Emma Goldman, the New York City anarchist.But will it play in Charm City? This is the Times Square Hotel, the model Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has in mind for a downtown housing complex for homeless people, the elderly and students.

NEW YORK -- MetroGolf Inc. plans to develop a golf center adjacent to New York's Times Square, allowing patrons to work on their game without leaving midtown.The golf center will feature a 200-yard indoor driving range with 54 tees on the roof of the Port Authority Bus Terminal on 42nd Street.The project will cost about $6 million and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year."The revival of Times Square and 42nd Street is one of the great urban success stories," Charles Gargano, vice chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said in a statement.

NEW YORK - The sidewalks of Times Square are paved with gold. Well, fake gold: Rolex, Tag Heuer, Breitling and Cartier timepieces whose gleaming casings are as authentic as the inside mechanism is reliable. Myriad street vendors choking this "crossroads of the world" are hawking more than watches, though. The gilt dreams of tourists pouring into Times Square are also fed with enticements of faux Louis Vuitton purses, Montblanc pens, Tiffany bracelets and pashmina scarves. Not all of Times Square's street vendors sell knockoffs.

NEW YORK - Not so long ago, a skinny kid who used to be me would walk these neon-soaked streets at 3 a.m. - mind racing, heart thumping, eyes darting, pointed finger jammed into coat pocket, as if packing more than a pen.And muttering, to no one in particular.Maybe, I reasoned then, if the psychos at the crossroads of depravity sized me up as one of them, they would leave me alone.When in New York, especially Times Square . . .On good nights, the journey lasted just long enough for me to scamper from the West 43rd Street newspaper building, where I interned, to a cab on Seventh Avenue.

NEW YORK - A joint venture led by SL Green Realty Corp. agreed yesterday to buy 1515 Broadway in Times Square for about $480 million, marking the largest real estate transaction in New York since before Sept. 11. The 54-story, 1.75-million- square-foot property is the headquarters of media company Viacom Inc. and houses the MTV studios. The seller of the building is a partnership led by Axa SA's Equitable Life Assurance Society unit, Steve Solomon, a spokesman for New York-based SL Green, said in an interview.

When she's not belting out "Tomorrow" on stage, Annie, accompanied by an orphan or two, likes to head out to Times Square for a quick game of Lazer Tag at one of the slick new arcades, followed by a bowl of spaghetti or a burger at a hip but positively kid-friendly eatery.They window-shop at the huge Disney Store that anchors the corner of 42nd Street. Across the street are two other recent arrivals kids love: DAPY for weird and wacky trinkets and Magic Max for take-home magic tricks."Times Square is really fascinating, especially at night with all of the lights, and a lot safer than I thought it would be," offers 8-year-old Brittny Kissinger, the endearing Annie of the new 20th-anniversary Broadway production.

NEW YORK -- They may not have been the most memorable of headlines: "Paper goods companies James River and Fort Howard to merge in pact valued at $3.4 bilion"; "Secretary of State Albright opens talks in Mexico on immigration, drug enforcement ahead of Clinton's two-day state visit."Memorable or not, they were among the last to circle the One Times Square building on its news zipper before the electric sign was removed, piece by piece, shortly after 8 a.m. Monday.The removal is just temporary: Dow Jones & Co., which runs the news zipper, plans to install a new, digital zipper in July that will be brighter and less boxy, similar to the Morgan Stanley zipper just a few blocks north.