From Peep Shows to Elmo Selfies: Times Square’s Never-Ending Transformation

On a recent Friday night, the neon glare of Times Square bounced off a crowd of tourists angling for a photo with a bedraggled Spider-Man. Less than three decades ago, this same stretch of Broadway was the domain of peep show barkers and neon-lit porn theaters, a gauntlet of vice as notorious as it was exhilarating. Today’s costumed buskers—Elmos, Marios, and the like—have become the new hustlers of Midtown, trading suggestive winks for selfie tips.

Locals still tell stories of the old Times Square with a mix of nostalgia and exasperation. “It was wild—you’d walk past The Deuce on a Saturday and someone would try to hire you or sell you a ticket to a show you’d never tell your mother about,” recalls Luis Martinez, a Hell’s Kitchen native who’s watched the area morph from red light to family-friendly zone. Now, it’s the squeaky-clean flagship stores and ticket hawkers who jostle for your attention, a sanitized hustle that draws millions—if not always the affection of New Yorkers.

This autumn, as campaign posters crowd subway entrances and theater marquees blink with new shows, the contrast feels especially sharp. The city’s push for a safer, more polished Times Square has succeeded, but the edge that defined its character lingers in the collective memory. Just last week, a group of costumed characters were embroiled in yet another turf spat, their antics watched by NYPD officers and a throng of smartphone-wielding visitors.

The debate over what Times Square should be isn’t going anywhere. Some lament the loss of grit, others celebrate the safety and commerce. The plaza is now as likely to host a pop-up Broadway rehearsal as a spontaneous dance-off. But for a few blocks in the heart of Manhattan, the tension between past and present is always on display—just ask the next person offering you a photo, or a story about the way things used to be.