Times Square Roulette: Remaking the City Icon

by Lynne B. Sagalyn

The compelling story of the politics, policies, and personalities that made Times Square's revitalization possible. The spectacularly successful transformation of Times Square has become a model for other cities. From its beginning as Longacre Square, Times Square's commercialism, signage, cultural diversity, and social tolerance have been deeply embedded in New York City's psyche. Its symbolic role guaranteed that any plan for its renewal would push the hot buttons of public free speech, property-taking through eminent domain, development density, tax subsidy, and historic preservation. In Times Square Roulette , Lynne Sagalyn debunks the myth of an overnight urban miracle performed by Disney and Mayor Giuliani, to tell the far more complex and commanding tale of a twenty-year process of public controversy, nonstop litigation, and interminable delay. She tells how the troubled execution of the original redevelopment plan provided a rare opportunity to rescript it. And timing was the mid-1990s saw rising international corporate interest in the city was a mecca for mass-market entertainment and synergistic merchandising. Sagalyn details the complex relationship between planning and politics and the role of market forces in shaping Times Square's redevelopment opportunities. She shows how policy was wedded to deal making and how persistent individuals and groups forged both.

Genres: New York

638 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2001

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sagalyn is a master of the subject and the information is great, but this is isone of the most over-written books I've ever come across. Every page has probably a third more than it needs, much of the excess being redundant analysis. makes it a slog, but the subject matter is fascinating.

[Larry Kooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Excellent history of the Times Square redevelopment project from 1980-2000, covering the deal points, the politics, the history, the architecture and the planning issues.