Times Square Museum & Visitor Center

Very nice place to visit. Small museum yet it’s free.

Great place to come and visit if you are in Times Square.
1) clean restrooms
2) it is free
3) nice replica of the New Year’s eve ball

Well, I like this sort of thing, so it is a four to me.
The looping film in the peepshow booths, and the big one on the main screen, are very interesting in showing just how far down the tubes Times Square went. One would certainly never know it now.
As mentioned in other reviews there is a public bathroom.
It was kind of neat standing in the little theater thinking of folks rushing there to get daily news in the forties, or watch more exotic things and fellow patrons in the years just before it closed.
I suspect that they might be trying to leave a lot of open floor on purpose, but otherwise they could fit more exhibits in there easily.

Great mini museum with some interesting exhibits. Great way to get to know the city. It’s almost a blink and you’ll miss it place so keep your eyes peeled

There’s like nothing here.
A few signs on the wall saying this place used to be the exclusive, high society Empire Theater back in the 1920’s, transitioned to a place to get news during World War II, and descended steadily into seediness before it’s modern day incarnation as a «museum and visitor’s center.»
There are a few Broadway theater costumes on display. The most interesting thing is probably the small Motoscope (w/​the ‘Do Not Touch’ sign).
I gave this place an extra star for having restrooms.

if you love your body, want to take care of your body, curious about you body, this is the place to go. Totally worth it.

Like many NYC locals (or wannabe locals after a year of living in Brooklyn, let’s be honest…) Times Square is one of my least favorite neighborhoods. Yet I find myself smack in the middle of it all too frequently… whether it’s to show around an out-​of-​towner, to get some shopping done in the most stressful way possible, or to catch a Broadway show… all of which I’ve done… in the past week.
Anyway, ducking in here for the first time while waiting for the Annie lottery was one of the best decisions I made all week!
1. There’s a free bathroom. ’nuff said.
2. It was almost completely empty. What? No slow walkers? Nobody trying to sell me discount comedy tickets?
3. The NYE ball. Because I will never go to Times Square on actual NYE.
4. The museum aspect of this place is actually pretty awesome — the interactive historical photo display and vintage film footage of Times Square were fascinating, at least to history nerds like my sister and me.
5. Did I mention the bathroom?

This review is for the ball drop on NYE 2013
What a clusterfuck. When my friends and I arrived at Times Square at 2:00 p.m. (10 hours early) on New Year Eve to watch the ball drop, we were certain we’d get front row access. We read the tips on the do’s and don’ts of the event, we came prepared with warm clothes, comfy shoes, skittles, an ipad, and we had dehydrated our bodies for two days so we wouldn’t have to use the restroom in those 10 hours (well I did anyway). However nothing could have prepared us for being dicked around by the NYPD. Collectively, we all felt the same way when we first saw hundreds of men in blue protecting the barricades around Times Square — a deep felt respect and admiration for them — we assumed that each of them had been on the force when ⁹⁄₁₁ happened. That feeling didn’t last all night though. Upon arrival into Times Square, we realized that it was completely blocked off with barricades, so we went to the closest barricade to where the ball drops and we were the among the first in line. The police officers standing there could offer no information on when it would open or where we would be able to stand once we got in, they said they didn’t know anything. While standing there I made friends with someone and we chatted for a while, that was a really cool thing about the night, we made friends with everyone we stood next to, the crowd would shift and move and you’d be squished up against a new set of people and make friends with them, it was so much fun. I digress, after standing at the original destination for an hour, a cop comes up and tells us that the barricade is not going to open, not now, not ever, we have to back up to 49^th street and enter from there, which is like 6 blocks from where we are standing. We do what the cops say and start moving but my new friend decides he is going to stick it out and we exchange numbers to keep each other posted on where we end up. He is adamant that the cops are lying but I’m like no way Jose, cops don’t lie.
We make it up to 49^th and it is packed. People are pushing and shoving and when the cops finally open up the barricade, a flood of people rush a small entrance, I’m so squished that my legs aren’t even holding me up anymore, the peoples bodies around me are carrying me. The cop get pushed over and in 10 seconds, the barricade is closed and we are told to move down another two blocks to another entrance. Most people leave but some of us stay to see if they open the barricade again and sure enough, 20 minutes later, the cops open but this time they are better prepared to deal with the crowd and realize that one cop against a mob of people isn’t a good idea. Let me reiterate, there are hundreds of cops in plain sight, all of them standing there, none of them know what’s going on, no one is informing the crowd on any details, they just say «we don’t know» to any question they are asked. Once we get through that barricade, we reach another one, it is only guarded by one cop though so as soon as he turns his head, we sneak through one by one. Finally, we all get through and we can see the ball although we are nowhere close to where we started from. We stand in the same spot for an hour and a rush of cops swarm the crowd and tell us we all have to move to the right, so we move right. The cops on the left tell us we have to move left, so we move left. Then all the cops tell us, we are standing in an emergency exit so we have to leave. Most people move, we stay. At this point anything the cops tell us is bullshit and we didn’t come all this way to go back another block. My friend walks up to a police officer and tells them what we’ve been through and asks us what he expects us to do he says «do whatever you want, knows one knows what’s going on.» Finally, the crowd starts moving forward in waves. We go through a second security check point and by the time it’s our turned to be scanned one of the officers in charge tells the officers that are scanning people to just let people go through. It was anarchy. We reach our final destination, they sectioned us off into pig pens. Not as close as where we started, not as far back as we thought we would have to settle for. The first friend I met did eventually get into that barricade and was able to get a lot closer than we were. Other than that we had a fabulous time, met wonderful people from all over the world who we talked to for hours to pass the time.

Jay-Z’s song describes it perfectly:
«There’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you, let’s hear it for New York
New York, New York»
These bright lights during a cold, windy night aren’t far from inspiring. Lots of your typical mall-​type franchise stores and restaurants, but I don’t think that’s not what stuck to me. The true city-​girl feeling that made me feel giddy looking the sparkling lights is what I loved, definitely reminds me of the shopping districts in Tokyo or Hong Kong. There were ads for Broadway shows along the main street, shows that brought back childhood memories, real nostalgic.

$ 20 Show with Open Bar — Great venue for Improv!

I’m hesitant to write this review. Should I be a good Unilocal citizen and let y’all know about the oft overlooked gem I discovered years ago when visiting Times Square? Or should I keep my trap shut and keep the restrooms blissfully free of lines and the museum area uncrowded with available (air-​conditioned) seating?
Clearly the angel on my shoulder won out… so here you go. Go here. It is a little oasis in Times Square. They will help you book tickets. You can buy tacky souvenirs (I know… that’s tough to find.) But you can also see the Centennial Times Square New Year’s Eve ball on display, along with costumes from Broadway shows (most recently, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s greatest hits.) Plus… free bathrooms. No need pretending to be eating at McDonalds or buying a soda you didn’t want to alleviate your guilt.
The staff is super nice and helpful. Most recently I was there with a friend and the security guard spotted us checking out the ball and insisted on taking a photo of us with the ball and playing fashion photographer with posing each of us and taking multiple angles and expressions.

Free to come in, and the people in here are really friendly.
This place gives you a gist of the history of Time Square, and there is a gift shop in here as well as a photobooth. I went in here to purchase Tastes of Time Square tickets, and I guess if you work within the area you get a discount as well. I believe this event is here every year.
Oh and if you want a bit of New Years fun «catch the ball!» :D
Or…if you want to go to a clean bathroom this is the place to go to. ITS FREE, and you don’t need to be a customer! :D

What a fancy name for basically a Visitor Center.
You walk into an old theater and inside’s like a large auditoriium. A gift shop area on the right and a booth to buy tickets for shows in front of you, as you pass by, there’s a Starbucks kiosk and in the rear, to the right is where you want to go for maps and info. We picked up several maps. The NYC subway map is helpful as well as the MTA «The Map». The guys sitting at the desk tries to be helpful with answering your questions but intially, he was not very welcoming. Didn’t greet us after he finished helping other visitors. I almost felt he was trying to ignore us on purpose. NY snobbery? Lots of those single rectangular sheets on the racks for you to look at to help decide what you want to visit.
There are bathrooms near the front door, which is really helpful since it’s hard to find public toilets in NYC.

What a great free stop-​in!
Come watch the ball drop and imagine you were there for the real thing (but didn’t have to wait in the cold and the crowds)!

Imagine going on vacation or just strolling around Times Square and having to pee really badly.
All you see are clothing stores and you’re too self-​conscious to pretend to be a customer at one of the restaurants.
What do you do?
Sure you can just whip it out (or squat, for the ladies) and take a chance on one of the side streets but getting a ticket or going to jail would really bring a damper on your weekend. Head over to the Times Square visitor center.
The bathrooms here are pretty clean and there’s also plenty of info to educate you more on the history of the crossroads of the world. You can relive the ball drop every 15 minutes as well. There’s a posted schedule so if you want to steal a kiss from your date, come by here «randomly» and it would be like walking under mistletoe over and over again.

Tons of info for tourist, yet this is my new hideaway from the summer heat and tourist.
In search of air conditioned and a restroom in packed out Times Square on a hot summer day, I find my self in the visitor center. I walk in there air conditioned check, restroom check, and oh hey free WiFi this is a situation I like to call winning. And on top of that despite the vast about of tourist in times square, there are not all that many people in the vistor center.
I nice place to escape the heat and crowds of Times Square.

Even if your a local you should definitely check this place out. They have a lot of information about travel, sights and even discounts for shows.
They have the old ball that drops in Time Square out on display. Every hour the lights go dim and there is a countdown just like on New Years Eve.
Times Square was known as a «red light district» back then and this place keeps the memory alive. They have 3 booths on display just like the ones used back then. You can press a button and have the glass fog on and off. It’s awesome.
You will also see a wall of confetti with something written on them. This is on the «Hopes and Dreams» wall. Once the ball drops millions of pieces of confetti is shot into the air. The ones who save them post them up here and have dreams written on them.
FREE PUBLIC RESTROOM! It’s hard to go the bathroom in NYC. This place has one that is open and always clean. (during hours of operation of course)

I really like this place. You could get all the maps, brochures, coupons and ask any questions you like! The information guys are very friendly. They also have public restrooms even though ‘it’s not clean’ but a great rest spot for people visiting Time Square!
The simulation ball drops are cool too. it will show every 20 minutes with 05, 25, 45 in every hours. The light show will make you feel you’re in Time Square counting down on New Years Eve. A great experience if you come to take a look.

No question was unanswered, or enquiry too inane. The Staff at the Times Square Centre were not only helpful, but friendly and sincere. That’s as good as it gets in New York City

Jeder der New York besucht geht zum Times Square.
Wenn Du sowieso hier bist, lohnt es sich kurz in Times Square Visitors Center zu schauen, denn hier gibt es Möglichkeiten Tickets für Sehenswürdigkeiten zu kaufen und sich Informationen über die Events der nächsten Tage zu holen. Ebenfalls kannst Du hier einen kostenlosen eMail /​Internet– Zugang nutzen, oder auch die Lieben zuhause mit einer Videomail überraschen.
Ausserdem gibt es nebenan eine Webcam:
Sie hängt etwas oberhalb zwischen dem TGI Fridays an der Ecke und dem Foto/​Elektroladen.
(
— usa — newyork — times square — cam4)
Klick :

Da kannst du Dich den Daheimgebliebenen zeigen und sie wissen das Du gut angekommen bist.
Und wenn Du nur eine «saubere» Toilette suchst, auch gut.

The Times Square Visitors/​Information Center is not just for tourists. It’s an excellent resource for getting information on what’s going on in NYC. All the fun things you’ve always wanted to do but don’t because you live here can be found under the Times Square Alliance roof. Ideas that is. You can get ideas on what to do in NYC here.
There are tons of pamphlets and flyers for all the latest exhibits on every museum and art gallery, broadway and off broadway shows, bus/​helicopter/​boat tours, and coupons! Coupons! Did I mention the coupons?! Granted, they probably don’t save you much money in the long run (spend $ 200 to save $ 20– its like Costco), but they might give you the incentive to explore your own city or tickle your taste buds at a restaurant you might never venture out to otherwise. For example, I got a 15% discount coupon for dinner at Sarabeth’s.
Surprisingly the center is not a zoo. The tourists are pretty orderly and people just come in and out. Not much loitering other than bathroom breaks, ticket purchases, and free internet. Yup! There are a few computer stations here that are sponsered by Yahoo! that give you 10 whole minutes of free internet to check your e-​mail and yes– Unilocal! Aside from checking your email and Unilocaling, there are other computer stations available that allow you to send picture e-​mail postcards and video postcards. What a great way to spam your friends, send smooches to your hunnie, or simply make others jealous that you’re living it up in the Big Apple.
I stop in the Times Square Visitors/​Information Center from time to time mainly to pick up free maps of Manhattan and just to browse what’s going on in the art scene. And yes, when I leave, my purse is 10 times heavier because its filled with all those free pamphlets of information. Excellent reading material.