New York City Forum: Time Square

As the locals will confirm, although it’s definitely a must-see for a tourist, there’s not much to actually ‘do’ in Times Square unless you want to pay high prices for tourist places and chain restaurants.

I absolutely loved it and I can’t wait to see it and experience it again when I go back to NYC next year. I loved all the billboards, the lights, the hustle and bustle…but it’s not somewhere you’d plan to eat or shop at and I personally wouldn’t want to stay too close to it.

From memory:

Shops – M&Ms World, The Disney Store, Toys’R’Us, Sephora, MAC, Forever 21. There’s no ‘real’ shopping here that you can’t find anywhere else (Sephora and MAC for example are all over the place) but I spent a fair bit of time in the Disney Store and M&Ms world. There are also plenty of souvenir shops but you’ll find cheaper places elsewhere.

Bars/restaurants – overpriced tourist places and chain restaurants. Avoid this area for eating and drinking if you can, there are much better options available everywhere else around NYC. I did get Starbucks and a slice of pizza from some shop there, but I’d never actually plan to go to Times Square for a full meal.

A fair few Broadway theatres are also in the vicinity and I think there’s also a cinema close by.

What's actually there?

Billboards, just as you already noted -- and (other than hordes of tourists looking at other tourists looking at the billboards) not much more than that.

Most locals go to Times Square as they are heading to either their jobs or to shows on Broadway. Very few of us live in the area, which has essentially been ceded by NYers to the tourists. What you will see in addition to those amazing lights are tourists lugging cameras and guidebooks into overpriced and underqualitied chain restaurants.

Should you go there? Heck yes. The lights are a great New York experience. See the lights, get your fill, and then head somewhere else - like Ninth Ave to eat.

Should you stay in the area? This depends on who you are. If you are someone who likes to be surrounded by people and loves the flashing lights why not. You are close to numerous subway lines that can take you anywhere else you want to go. But, if you are someone who wants to see more of an actual NY neighborhood - this would not be for you.

Thanks everyone for your response. i have a better understanding of what to expect. :)

Part of the Times Square area has been made into a pedestrian mall without cars so some actually sit at tables and chairs in the street!

www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyone/4594733879/

The TKTS booth when it was renovated a few years ago now also is essentially big red "bleachers" where you can also sit.

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Melb's memory is pretty good. There used to be NO shops in Times Square apart from tacky souvenier places but slowly many of the more popular chains (like American Eagle and Levi's have opened stores in and around the area and they stay open quite late to make sales after the shows let out. Need some Chanel lipstick at 11 pm? Go to Sephora in Times Square. They're open til midnight; :)

We prefer to stay in/near Times Square because the purpose of our trips tp NYC is a theater weekend. We generally see four plays in three days and like to be close to our hotel for breaks.

I think that saying there's not much to do in Times Square is like saying there's not much to do in Central Park other than walk around. Times Square has been turned into one of the great urban spaces, in spite of the ubiquitious chain stores that have taken over its retail environment. When the weather is nice, sitting out on the steps of the TKTS booth (an architectural gem) at night amidst the crowds and the lights is a sublime experience. The point of TS is to be there in the crowd and see the lights. This is particularly true if you come from a place where there are no big crowds except at manufactured events like sporting events. For people who live in the city it may have become something to be tolerated as a generator of revenue, but it really is a wonderfull spot. I don't think there is another spot in the country like it.

We always stay in Times Sq and use that as our base to travel either up town or downtown, yes its crowded and its pricey, but , if you like the crowds and the late night action where you can sit outside relax and sip a cup of coffee and just watch the world go by, its great. While many Hotels advertise they are located in Times Sq, very few are actually in Times Sq, try the Double Tree Suites Times Sq, cant get much closer.

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The naked cowboy is in Times Square,enjoy!lol

He can even marry you there.