One Times Square: A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World

About this book

Winner New York Times Best Illustrated Childrens Book Award Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year More than any other public space in New York City Times Square is the place where Americans have gathered in good times and in bad to catch up on the latest news to mark historic occasions or just to meet a few friends. From the Stock Market crash in 1929 to the celebrations marking the end of the Second World War to annual New Years Eve festivities with the iconic descending lighted ball the square and its tower have been an integral part of our history. One Times Square explores the story of this fascinating intersection starting when Broadway was a mere dirt path known as Bloomingdale Road through the districts decades of postwar decay to its renewal as a glittering tourist-friendly media mecca. Joe McKendrys meticulous watercolors take readers behind the famous Camel billboard to find out how it blew smoke rings over the square for 25 years to the top of the Times Tower to see how the New Years ball has made its descent for over 100 years and onto construction sites as buildings grow up around One Times Square to dwarf what once ranked among the tallest buildings in the world.