Times Square is a mall
Years ago, when Times Square was cleaned of its prostitutes, vagrants, drug addicts, a lament went out that they had genericized this area of New York. Over the years, with its Planet Hollywood (which I still don’t comprehend), its Toys R Us, and chains such as Friday’s, Times Square has become some weird suburban oasis in the midst of a most urban city. Now, the city government has turned Times Square into a mall. Some new decree has made it next to impossible to get a car or taxi through the streets that all have new no turning signs and the goal is to drive all cars from this few block radius and to create a pedestrian mall.
Now a pedestrian mall is not a bad idea – look at the pedestrian plazas in Spain and Italy – but this is more mall than pedestrian with its chock o block of chain stores and overly cleaned up tourist version of what a theater district really is.
T got all creeped out by Times Square and ran her bony ass down to the Village to escape the mall atmosphere. Whatyagonnado?