As more and more people descend on Times Square to enjoy the newly created pedestrian spaces and temporary cheap furniture, it was inevitable that the NYPD would dispatch one of their citizen-surveilling towers. This SkyWatch turret was posted up on Broadway and 47th Street to keep a intrusively observant eye over tourists and transient New Yorkers alike.

Photo by ANIMALnewyork

The city may be reeling from recession, but the huge orange plastic containers and tatty hardware-store chairs give the sense that it’s already letting itself go, like some Lehman Brothers wife who has not just forsaken her golden highlights, but given up on grooming altogether. Surely someone at Ikea could have helped the city ease this transition — maybe some witty, oversize umbrellas (sure, weighed down), or at least chairs that do not look like they are lonely for the company of pink flamingos.

Note: replacing the temporary lawn chairs with temporary Swedish lawn chairs until construction finishes in mid-August makes no sense.

After Andrea Peyser’s unsuccessful attack on the new car-free Times Square, the New York Post dispatched two more “reporters” to the scene and later deployed a catchy headline. This time around they didn’t find European tourists puffing cigarettes in between layovers at Newark, but did spot some “hot-dog wrappers” and “McDonald’s bags.” Evidently, there’s a correlation between larger crowds and increased litter. Shocking indeed, but as we recall, overflowing garbage bins in Times Square—especially in front of that trashy Sabaro’s on West 47th Street—is about as common a sight as tourists and surveillance cameras.

Still, at least one flickr user agrees with the tabloid and snapped the above photo, noting “The lawn chairs look tacky and of course people sit there and leave their garbage behind. At least the straw in the cup coordinates with the green of the chairs.”

Photo by Trish Mayo

After reading Andrea Peyser’s pigheaded piece in the Post earlier this week describing how “Real New Yorkers” were pissed off about the prospects of a car-free Times Square, ANIMAL hit the streets to speak to the people, the ones sitting in all that “cheapo furniture” the philippic pundit railed against. As it turns out, the locals love it and the tourists are in heaven, despite being forced to sit in temporary plastic chairs like plebeians. Press play and watch their testimonials firsthand.

Times Square has always been a photogenic place, but more so now with its newly car-free blocks, the ones Andrea Peyser feels irrationally ranty about. Photographer Jook Leung shot several 360-degree panoramas of the pro-pedestrian project: atop the TKTS booth in Duffy Square and further south at 45th and 43rd Street. Click the images above for a preview but make sure to get the big picture of the new Times Square.