Times Square is a busy intersection of art and commerce, where the chaos of hundreds of advertisements (signs and "newscrawlers") live for viewers' attention.
The theaters of Broadway and the huge number of animated neon and LED signage have long made it one of New York's iconic images, and a symbol of the intensely urban aspects of Manhattan. Times Square is the only neighborhood with zoning ordinances requiring building owners to display illuminated signs. The density of illuminated signs in Times Square now rivals that of Las Vegas. Officially, signs in Times Square are called "spectaculars."

Celebrities such as Irving Berlin, Fred Astaire, and Charlie Chaplin were closely associated with Times Square in the 1910s and 1920s. During this period, the area was nicknamed The Tenderloin because it was the most desirable location in Manhattan.