Times Square TKTS Named 'Building of the Decade' by NY Magazine

New York Magazine has named the newly erected TKTS building in Times Square, home to eager ticket buyers, protesters, street performers and jay walkers everywhere, the 'Building of the Decade.'

Writes the mag of the structure:

"Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats; the show has already begun. Fire up your cell phones and let someone know where you are: on a set of glowing glass bleachers, with a front-and-center view of Times Square. Directly in front, the statue of Father Duffy stands with his back to the audience, facing the proscenium like the stage manager in Our Town. Dusk blazes among the twinkling marquees and the palisade of glaring signs. You're part of the razzmatazz, too-members of the ensemble perched on a glossy scarlet staircase to nowhere. The little raked red piazza slung over the shoulders of the new TKTS booth is a work of exuberant uselessness and brilliant urbanism. At once humble and flashy, it distills the theatrical urge that electrified architecture in the last decade...The solid structure has the feel of a load-bearing hologram. After dark, it looks as though it were fabricated entirely of light. The truth is almost as crazy: Glass walls and glass beams support glass stairs protected by glass rails. The apparently brittle wedge is warmed by natural heat, piped from underground by a geothermal apparatus that hums in the window. The machinery is part of the magic."

Why the honor?  The magazine asserts that while eye catching sky scrapers surround the small building, oddly placed in a island in the middle of the street, TKTS remains the central focus of one of the world's most famous squares and a hub of the city.

To read the full report in New York Magazine, click here.

New York City's TKTS in Times Square first opened in 1973 and is operated by the Theatre Development Fund. The Times Square booth sells day-of-performance tickets only, while the South Street Seaport booth sells tickets to evening performances on the day of the performance and matinee tickets the day before.

The original TKTS pavilion in Times Square was designed by the Manhattan architecture firm of Mayers & Schiff Associates and was inaugurated by Mayor John Lindsay. The city had a capital budget of $5,000 to build the pavilion, a sum that was obviously insufficient. But the city did have an "operating" budget, which the architects used in a plan based on renting, rather than buying, the pavilion's parts. The sales booth was housed in a rented construction trailer; the armature around and on top of the trailer was made from rented scaffolding parts. Interwoven through the armature was a continuous white canvas ribbon emblazoned with the "TKTS" logo. Foundations could not be dug under the booth because the subway structure is just below ground level. To hold down this giant "wind kite" the architects utilized pile driving test weights (also rented). The pavilion received many design awards, including the American Institute of Graphic Arts' Excellence in Communications Graphics; The City Club of New York's Bard Award for Architecture and Urban Design; and the N.Y. State Association of Architects Certificate of Merit for Design Excellence.

A new TKTS booth for the Times Square location began construction in May 2006 and was completed in October 2008. During this time, the TKTS booth was temporarily relocated to the nearby Marriott Marquis hotel. After many delays, the new TKTS booth opened for business on October 16, 2008 on a renovated Duffy Square, with a ceremony featuring Mayor Michael Bloomberg and various Broadway performers. According to the Theater Development Fund, the final cost of the new booth is $19 million. 

In the 35 years since the booth first opened, there have been 6 mayors and 51 million tickets sold. Theaters release tickets for sale by TKTS throughout the day, with more tickets often available within a few hours of showtime. TKTS accepts cash and travelers checks and now also accepts credit cards. The waiting times at Duffy Square are normally longer than at the Seaport location. Available shows are displayed on large signs near the ticket windows. The new booth has twelve sales windows.