There is one place in NYC that I never go to – except to draw. That’s Times Square. A riot of color and energy, it’s a place most New Yorkers avoid, and every tourist visits. When going through my computer files to look at drawings of Times Square the other day, I came across this one, done way back in 2004. Check out the Howard Johnson’s restaurant on the left side. And the Roxy. And the ad for STOMP! Drawing truly is a time machine…
Posted by Veronica
“Drawing truly is a time machine.” How appropriate. The last time I was in NY, and saw the construction, and the buildings waiting to be demolished for new construction, made me think of a time lapsed montage of NY’s changing landscape. Now it seems to be changing for the worse. Franchises, chain stores and mega-bank branches are destroying the panache, the uniqueness and palpable “soul” of the city. McDonald’s and HOJO’s in Times Square (which I remember seeing once as a wonderfully squalid, perverted cesspool, a place where I would love to live with Diane Arbus, revelling in cuckoldery. Sorry, I’ve started on one of my unintelligible, incoherent riffs. Anyway, I agree with you about drawing, reportage (thank you Ronnette and Margaret for introducing me to a new world), as a time machine.
Thank you Charles, for your thoughtful comments. There is good and bad to the “new” New York City; I’m always glad to find a drawing that preserves the memories of the old days.