Byline: Jay Clarke Knight-Ridder
Every New Year's Eve, as millions watch in person and on television, a descending red ball atop the Allied Chemical Building in Times Square counts off the seconds remaining in the old year.
At times of great national joy, such as the end of World Wars I and II, hordes of celebrants have gathered in this famous square. And every day of the year, at least a half million New York City visitors find their way to Times Square, drawn as irresistibly to this urban cauldron of humanity as a hummingbird is drawn to a flower.
They come to this midtown square - actually a huge asphalt "X" formed by the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue at 44th Street - to go to the theater and the movies, to gawk at the huge electric signs and to dine out. Times Square is in the center of the theater district, which extends from 42nd to 52nd Streets and from Sixth to Eighth Avenues, and within easy walking distance of Rockefeller Center and Fifth Avenue's toney shops. The Times Square subway station is the busiest in the city; several lines meet there.
During the past two decades, however, the bloom has faded. Times Square went to seed. Raunch, dirtiness and crime so cheapened the square that even street-savvy residents avoided it.
Now a turnaround is in the making. Times Square has a long way to go, but New York City's most popular gathering spot may be on the road to new greatness.
Four new hotels have opened in the Times Square/theater district in the past few months, and another has been completely renovated. Two …
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