Times Square is a square in the heart of New York City at the crossroads of Seventh Avenue, 42nd Street, and Broadway. The Theatre District, which includes Times Square, is generally defined by Sixth
Eighth avenues to the east and west, and by Forty-first and Fifty-third streets to the south and north, respectively.
Originally called Long Acre (or Longacre), this square gained notoriety in the 1890s as a hub of crime despite having served as a business and residential district for the majority of the 19th century
In 1904, the plaza was renamed Times Square as the nearby Times Tower became home to The New York Times (though it would outgrow them by 1913).
The area quickly became the gathering spot for New Yorkers to ring in the new year. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, the Times has, since 1907, lowered a massive glass ball down its flagpole
With the advent of live television broadcasts, which have allowed tens of millions of people all around the United States to participate in the annual ball drop in Times Square
Several grand theatres opened on 42nd Street at the turn of the 20th century, and by the second decade of the century, Times Square and the Broadway area had become arguably the most famous entertainment district in the country,
thanks in large part to the square's central location and the fact that a large station for the newly constructed subway was situated beneath it. The term "Crossroads of the World" dates back to this time period.
More importantly, in a short period of time, Broadway came to be universally recognised as representing American theatre, particularly musical theatre.