What is it about Times Square that has inspired so much attention, despite its many profound changes, for more than a century? In Times Square Remade, Lynne B. Sagalyn masterfully recounts the story of this symbolic space’s hold on the public imagination, twenty years after her widely acclaimed Times Square Roulette. The book chronicles its history, from its early days as the nexus of speculation and competitive theater building to its darkest period as vice central, and the years of aggressive public-private intervention that followed, cleansing West 42nd Street and nearby areas like Hell’s Kitchen of pornography and crime.

Accompanied by nearly 160 images, Times Square Remade is a deftly woven narrative of urban transformation that will appeal as much to the general reader as to urbanists, city planners, architects, urban designers, and policymakers. Kenneth T. Jackson, Editor-in-Chief of The Encyclopedia of New York City, writes, “no other intersection on Earth has been as iconic, famous, and frequented as the crossroads of the world in New York. And no other person has written with such authority and knowledge about the place as Lynne Sagalyn.” Sharon Zukin, author of Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places, adds, “Sagalyn's erudition marches off every page.”

John Mollenkopf, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, joins in conversation.