Times Square Goes Noir: The City that Never Sleeps Meets The Big Sleep

Does today’s Time Square need a touch of gray?
When I say “The City that Never Sleeps” what genre do you immediately think of? If you said “Noir,” then you agree with the current design team working with New York City in a large-scale redesign of historic Times Square.

Currently the city is investing 27 million dollars into the development of the pedestrian plazas between 42nd St. and 47th st. According to one of the architect’s on the design team The Big Apple  isn’t some pretty Euopean know-nothing kind of town, it’s a tough, gritty, hard-boiled Film Noir place that folks like Peggy Castle would be proud to frequent.

The plazas would be covered with large paving stones in two dark-colored shades placed in a pattern and studded with nickel-sized stainless-steel “pucks” that would reflect neon lights.

It’s not all about the monochromatic coloring though. The architects say that a lot of the work will be leveling out the area and making it more friendly to New Yorkers and tourists alike. (If they are hoping that this will lead to New Yorkers and tourists happily coexisting then they are in for a pretty big upset…)

What do you think? Is New York the type of town to go Noir, or can you think of somewhere else that might better fit the bill?

Hat Tip : New York Post

Comments

  1. newyorker

    As long as they keep the tourists corraled so that I can get where I need to go, I’m in favor of this. “Look, Ma, it’s a very tall building!” (*stands and points, four people side-by-side, oblivious to the pedestrian gridlock they are causing*) Another thing that usually helps is if tourists tape many dollar bills to their body, so that we can just take one at will—it really improves our personality.

  2. Christopher Morgan

    I for one support your idea…

Comments are closed.