In fact, according to Dykers, the project was “as much about taking things away as it was about putting things in.” Numerous traffic lights and obsolete phone booths were discarded. To minimize the threat of flooding, long a problem in Times Square, the drainage system was upgraded. Aboveground, Snøhetta added ten 30- to 50-foot-long granite benches along Broadway to orient visitors and act as an infrastructural spine. Power supply is embedded within the benches to eliminate the need to bring in temporary generators for events.

On any given day, Times Square hosts public art projects, open rehearsals, political demonstrations, film shoots, and small commercial ventures including food kiosks and sometimes-rowdy buskers and costumed characters. Of course, it’s also home to larger happenings—from tens of thousands of people participating in outdoor yoga classes to the annual New Year’s Eve celebration that in 2017 alone attracted an estimated 2 million. “Times Square is itself like a theater set,” says Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance. “It’s a context where things are constantly changing. We needed a design that responded to day-to-day activities as well as meta-events.”

Snøhetta’s design nearly doubled the amount of public space for pedestrians in Times Square. Since aspects of the scheme were implemented—more permanent kiosks and planters have yet to be installed—there has been a 20 percent drop in crime and a 60 percent decrease in air pollution. And whether you’re a tourist or a local, today, fewer people say they avoid Times Square.