Times Square Anniversary

The steel frame of 1 Times Square in New York is seen Feb. 24, 1904. The building, for which the square was renamed, turns 100 April 8, 2004. The square hosts the New Year's party televised worldwide each year.

Part of the steel frame of 1 Times Square is seen during the construction of the building in this 1904 photo taken looking south along Broadway from 44th Street. The tower was opened as the headquarters of the New York Times.

The New York Times Tower is seen in this 1921 file photo in New York.

This is an aerial view of the Times Square area in Manhattan, New York City, looking toward the south, with the Times Tower on 42nd Street prominent in the center, in 1922.

A sailor and a nurse kiss passionately in Manhattan's Times Square, as New York City celebrates the end of World War II, Aug. 14, 1945. The celebration followed the official announcement that the Japanese had accepted the terms of Potsdam and surrendered.

Looking toward the north from the intersection of 44th Street, Broadway, left, and Seventh Avenue, right, this view shows the Times Square area in Manhattan, New York City, Feb. 19, 1950. The usually extensive lighting displays were dimmed under a brownout decree, due to a recent coal crisis. Broadway continues in the upper left; Seventh Avenue runs to the upper right.

This aerial view shows New York's Times Square at midnight, Jan. 1, 1958, as around 350,000 revelers gather outside to welcome the new year. This view looks north from the Times tower, between 42nd and 43rd Streets. The famed New Year's ball made its debut in 1907 from atop the Times building.

More than 10,000 people fill New York's Times Square, Aug. 13, 1995, during VJ Day celebrations commemorating the end of World War II 50 years earlier. A swing band played, veterans danced and sailors reminisced.

An unidentified worker starts the task of digging out in New York's Times Square, Jan. 8, 1996. One of the most powerful blizzards this century virtually shut down New York, forcing Gov. George Pataki to declare a state of emergency and activate National Guard troops.

New York City sanitation workers clean up in New York City's Times Square, Jan. 1, 1996. New York City officials estimated that over 30,000 tons of trash would be removed from Times Square, the trash of an estimated 500,000 people who celebrated their New Year's Eve in and around the square.

The Disney Store at 42nd St. and 7th Ave. in New York's Time Square district is seen in this photo taken April 9, 1997. Rats were out and "mice" were in on 42nd St., as the Big Apple became home to theme restaurants and Kmart stores in a cleaned up Times Square.

The beginning of the New Year is celebrated in New York's Times Square just after the stroke of midnight, Jan. 1, 1998. An estimated half million people were present in Times Square to witness the traditional ball drop.

The beginning of the New Year is celebrated in New York's Times Square just after the stroke of midnight, Jan. 1, 1998. An estimated half million people were present in Times Square to witness the traditional ball drop.

The U.S. Armed forces recruiting station, shown June 12, 1998, at Times Square in New York, was to be rebuilt as a glitzy, high-tech billboard for the military. Despite attacks on the "Pentagon-on-Broadway," the center that opened in 1946 was to stay smack in the middle of Times Square's glitz, only neon-ized.

New York's Times Square is seen by night, Jan. 15, 1999. Times Square, along with such public spaces as the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park and Grand Central Terminal, all serve a purpose in the life of the city. To New Yorkers who use them daily, they are taken for granted, part of the fabric of everyday existence, built-in features on the urban landscape.

Pre-dawn fireworks atop One Times Square in New York, December 31, 1999. Times Square celebrations began as the year 2000 approached the islands in the South Pacific.

A nearly-deserted Times Square is seen in the late morning hours, Sept. 12, 2001. The normal bustling car and foot traffic on Broadway through Times Square was almost non-existant a day after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

People juggle umbrellas while crossing the street at Times Square in New York during a windy snow storm that covered the tri-state area, Dec. 25, 2002.

Crowds file into Times Square on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2001, in New York. Under tight security, huge crowds converged on Times Square to usher in 2002, pay a red, white and blue tribute to the Sept. 11 victims and say goodbye to one of the most terrible years in New York history.

Members of the acrobatic troupe Anti Gravity are airborne during 100th birthday ceremonies for New York's Times Square, April 7, 2004.