Once a seedy New York porno and prostitution district, it now features stores and offices of some of America’s largest companies. You will find Viacom’s MTV studios, ESPNZone, many chain stores and restaurants, and the CondeNast skyscraper with a giant eight-story cylindrical video screen. That’s good and bad, says Daniel Makagon, a Michigan Tech faculty member who has written a book about the change, “Vibrating Streets: Times Square and the Urban Dream.” Makagon is an assistant professor of communication and cultural studies in Tech’s humanities department. The book looks at the “Disneyfication” of Times Square to an entertainment and business district. “Disney bought the New Amsterdam Theater in 1993 and things began to change,” Makagon says. “There are fewer independently owned shops. There are a lot of chain stores and restaurants. It flattens out Times Square’s unique character. And it tells people that transformation can only happen with big companies and big money.” Starting in mid-1999, Makagon interviewed a range of people: political leaders, theater people, street musicians, and senior citizens at a church luncheon. “One nice thing about ethnographic work is that you spend time in the place and talk with the people,” he said. “For example, I found that women feel safer now in Times Square than they did in the 1970s. Senior citizens feel good about going there. That is a very positive change. When people feel safe, that’s a good thing.” With mega-companies and big money driving the change, however, the character of this unique urban space has changed. “Times Square is an exciting place,” he says. “At the same time, there are some problems with the way the revitalization has occurred. Other options—such as civic groups, artists, and local people trying to do something internally—were basically ignored by various mayors. “Disney put a lot of money into expensive productions like Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King. Shows have become so expensive that they cater only to the upper middle class. Some of the second run movie houses and relatively inexpensive theaters are gone, removing entertainment options for working class families.” Reinvigoration from local groups, he believes, would have resulted in a different kind of transformation. “I think people want something that is real,” he says. “They want an element of chaos in their lives. That’s part of living in a city—a sense of chance.” “Vibrating Streets” will be available later this year.   Ozone | Times Square | Concrete | Archaeologists | Computing | Manipulating Light | SmartZone | Enterprise Program Michigan Tech Research 2003 Michigan Technological University 1400 Townsend Drive Houghton, MI 49931-1295 906-487-3043 Fax: 906-487-2245