Travel

Times Square, New York, pre-Covid

This video was photographed in early March 2020, just days before the COBVID lockdown was enforced. It was a time of innocence and naïveté where nobody realized the danger of the disease that was coming right around the corner. And so people are walking without any masks or social separation right through the heart of town, shoulder to shoulder. Normal life is coming back, so you can make preparations now to plan a visit to New York. And when you get there, be sure to spend lots of time in Times Square, as we are showing you throughout this episode. Electric heart of the city, packed with honking taxis, pedestrian mobs, giant billboards lighting the sky, Broadway shows all around, and some hundred places to eat and drink -- with a constant stream of street theater, 350,000 people passing through every day, many of them locals on their way to work. This lively plaza in the middle of Manhattan is the pulsating heartbeat of the world, surrounded by a dazzling light show with dozens of Broadway theaters all around. This is the place to begin and end your visit to New York City. Oh, but the purists, and the cynics, and the hard-core New Yorkers will say: keep away from this place. It's too crowded. There is too much honky-tonk. It's too fake and phony. It's all touristic. There are crazy people here, and pickpockets, and hustlers out to get you. All of which is true, but that's what makes it such an incredible and memorable, exciting experience, and why 65 million visitors come to the city every year. Of course, the Broadway shows are a major attraction, and you can get tickets at a discount right here at Times Square TKTS booth, open daily from 3 PM till 8 PM, and 10 AM for matinee days. Just above that TKTS theater ticket booth you'll find the red steps. It's a staircase to nowhere, but this is one of the main gathering points of the city. The steps offer an inviting place to sit down and take a break from your hectic day, and functions more like a theater rather than a staircase, providing a great view of other people as well as looking out across Times Square. You will meet people from all over the world. Then because it's New York, you can strike up a conversation with anybody. The city has done an amazing job of transforming what had been a busy automobile intersection into a pedestrian paradise, with lots of furniture, tables, chairs, places to sit down and relax. You don't even have to buy any food, just have a seat, take out your own snacks and drinks, watch the people go by. The city's also put nice controls on some street performers, especially these cartoon and action characters who used to be all over the place pestering you for money and a photo. Now they're corralled in one set area. But remember, if you take a picture with them, they want their tip. After all, they are hard-working characters, and they've become an interesting sideshow ju, st having a little fun with you. You can always find a cheap lunch at the rolling hot dog stand. http://tourvideos.com/