8 Things You Won’t See in Times Square When the Ball Drops on 2017

New Year’s Eve always presents us with two options for the evening: go to a party, or stay in and watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV.

If you, like many of us, are in the latter category, you’re likely prepared to see a whole bunch of freezing, yet excited, tourists vying for camera time while wearing plastic glasses that advertise the coming year (ain’t no party like a Gregorian calendar party, cuz a Gregorian calendar party don’t stop!).

The Times Square you’ll see on TV, however, is one that is vastly different than the Times Square of yesteryear, and even the Times Square of just a decade ago. The block has changed identities numerous times, and while there are plenty of bright lights there today, the illumination can blind a person to what the area once was.

The following are 8 things you won’t see in Times Square when the ball drops on 2017.

The Sex Industry

Although it might be hard to imagine when you look at the current Times Square, the block was once replete with prostitutes, pimps and porn theaters. In fact, a 1981 article in Rolling Stone referred to West 42nd Street as the “sleaziest block in America.”

A 2001 law banning “adult enterprises” from being less than 500 feet apart played a large role in changing the area.

 

Drug Dealers

You know the old phrase “sex, drugs, and rock n roll?” Back in the ‘80s Times Square had the first two in abundance (the rock n roll was further downtown). The website for Times Square doesn’t even try to hide this part of its history, as it states:

“In addition to the sex market, the drug trade also profoundly affected Times Square. Efforts to address the increase in prostitution, especially by juveniles, were derailed by the arrival of crack cocaine to Times Square in 1986 … Crack dealers, junkies and the cardboard encampments of the homeless took over the streets.”

While there are still plenty of drugs to be had in NYC, the only way you’ll get high in Times Square today is if you really like chain restaurants.

 

Rampant Violent Crime

Not even George Orwell could have predicted the kind of 1984 Times Square experienced. Overflowing with porn and crack, the block became a haven for violent crime. According to statistics, “By 1984, an unprecedented 2,300 annual crimes occurred on that single block, of which 460 were serious felonies such as murder and rape.” That’s over 1.25 murders, or rapes, per day on just that block!

Currently, the most felonious creatures in Times Square are the people dressed as Elmo and Spongebob, who might actually drive you to embrace Times Square’s murderous past.

 

Howard Johnson’s

Having opened in 1959, and lasting for nearly a half century, Howard Johnson’s was a true NYC landmark. Before it was torn down, it was the oldest continually operated business facing directly on Times Square. Its old school neon sign represented a very different era, one where people were excited about the establishment’s ice cream, fried clams and happy hour.

Fun Fact: According to Playbill, Gene Hackman worked as a maitre'd at Howard Johnson’s, and Lily Tomlin was a waitress there.

 

TRL

Sure, Carson Daly will be in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. There will also be throngs of screaming kids, some holding signs, looking to get on camera. Heck, there will even be big name pop acts performing.

Actually, how isn’t this TRL again?

 

Cars

Back in 2009 the city tried an experiment, closing Broadway to traffic from 42nd to 47th street, and creating pedestrian plazas. It worked so well that it was decided the area would remain permanently closed to traffic.

Anyone who chose to drive through Times Square was a fool anyway, so this basically forced a whole bunch of people to be smarter.

 

Dick Clark

Up until his passing in 2012, Dick Clark was synonymous with New Year’s Eve. His New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was THE show people watched if they wanted to see the ball drop, and he was always the first person to wish us a happy new year.

Now we have the confusingly titled Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest, which rolls off the tongue about as well as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

 

Random Professional Wrestlers

In 1999 the WWE, which was then known as the WWF, opened up a restaurant/nightclub in Times Square named WWF New York. The establishment would experience a name change, becoming The World, but, sadly, the end of The World came quickly, as the venue closed up shop in 2003. During its four year run, many wrestlers made appearances at The World, and WWE Heat was broadcast live from The World from October 2000 to February 2002. Two years after The World closed, the Hard Rock Cafe took over the space. While the venue still serves food, you can no longer smell what The Rock is cooking.

Want more blasts from the past? Check out our #ThrowbackThursday page.

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