Summer is almost here! The Times Square Alliance announces a variety of events and programming for the season including Songs for Our City, Taste of Times Square Week, and Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga, welcoming back New Yorkers and visitors to the district during the warmer months. Beyond these programs, the Alliance will also welcome back Broadway Buskers, Jazz in Times Square, three new video artworks on the screens as part of Midnight Moment, and more public art.
“On average, we are now seeing 180,000 daily pedestrians in Times Square and are thrilled to continue welcoming back New Yorkers and visitors to the neighborhood, emerging from the pandemic hungry to experience New York City and Times Square. Our summer offers opportunities to experience public art, live music in the plazas supporting local Broadway artists, special dining experiences throughout the district and even under the lights and signs and finally a chance to regain balance and find focus taking a yoga class in the busiest place in the world,” said Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance.
Times Square Alliance’s upcoming summer events include:
- Songs for Our City (June 1-5, 2021) – The second year of this songwriting challenge has asked members of the Broadway community to write original songs inspired by the past year and the present moment. They will share their new songs in free live evening concerts at Times Square’s Broadway Pedestrian Plaza (between 43rd and 44th Streets), which will be hosted by Ben Cameron. The concerts will also be livestreamed for audiences around the world via the Alliance’s website. Stipends will be provided to each of the competition participants as well as cash prizes for all eight finalists and winners. Participants are primarily past performers of the Alliance’s summer concert series Broadway Buskers, which showcases Broadway actors and up-and-coming composers performing their own original music. Audience votes will decide who performs again in the final concert on Saturday, June 5th at 5 pm for a panel of judges, including Director of New Artists at The Public Theater Jack Phillips Moore, theatre critic and creator of Token Theatre Friends Jose Solís, and Cambodian Rock Band playwright Lauren Yee. Songs for Our City is sponsored by T-Mobile.
- Taste of Times Square Week (June 7-14, 2021) – As an annual celebration of the neighborhood’s restaurants, Times Square Alliance will host Taste of Times Square Week once again to support local restaurants and will bring back the special three-course prix-fixe menus for $35 plus beverages, tax, and gratuity. Participating restaurants include BarDough, Gallagher’s Steakhouse, Havana Central, Hold Fast, Le Rivage, P.S. Kitchen, Playwright Celtic Pub, Tito Murphy’s, Tony’s Di Napoli, and many others. Live entertainment will also be performed by Hell’s Kitchen Happiness Krewe. Taste of Times Square Week is presented in partnership with SEATED and sponsored by T-Mobile.
- Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga (Sunday, June 20, 2021) – Yogis can find their inner peace once again in the heart of Times Square with the annual Solstice in Times Square, a combination of virtual and in-person classes on Sunday, June 20th. First-timers and experienced yogis are welcome to join for one of seven socially distanced, limited capacity in-person classes that will also be live streamed. Solstice in Times Square is supported by OFFLINE by Aerie, the Consulate General of India, New York, and SmartWater.
More Public Programming in Times Square:
- Thursdays at 7 pm, July 8 – Sept 30 | Jazz in Times Square: curated by Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jazz at Lincoln Center joins us outside again to bring New York City’s hottest young jazz bands to the plaza, creating the feeling of an intimate club amidst the lights and sounds of Times Square.
Made possible through a generous grant from the Brent R. Harris Charitable Trust.
- Fridays at 7pm, July 9 – Oct 1 | Broadway Buskers: curated and hosted by Ben Cameron
After moving online last summer, this series returns to the outdoors to showcase Broadway actors and up-and-coming composers performing their own original music at the Crossroads of the World. Past seasons have included Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winners, veteran ensemble members, and performers making their Broadway debut in new hit shows.
- Wednesday, August 18 at 5 pm | Carnegie Hall Citywide: Harlem Quartet in Times Square
Carnegie Hall’s 45-year tradition of bringing free concerts to all five boroughs of New York City continues, with Times Square Alliance hosting Harlem Quartet, which performs cornerstones of classical repertoire along with jazz, Latin, and contemporary works.
Public Art at Midnight on the Iconic Screens of Times Square – Midnight Moment: Presented by Times Square Arts, Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running digital art exhibition, synchronized on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57 pm to midnight. Presented by the Times Square Advertising Coalition and curated by Times Square Arts since 2012, it has an estimated annual viewership of 2.5 million. Times Square Arts collaborates with contemporary artists to engage with one of the world’s most iconic urban places.
- JUNE 1-30, 2021 | Kenneth Tam, Silent Spikes (2021)
In partnership with the Queens Museum and Absolut Art
Limited edition print in partnership with Absolut Art
Silent Spikes examines Asian American identity through the performance and movement of iconic American cowboys. Set against a saturated and dream-like backdrop, Silent Spikes features Asian American men of various ages and backgrounds dressed in iconic American cowboy garb, mimicking the movements of a bull rider in slow-motion.
- JULY 1-31, 2021 | Brandon Kazen-Maddox and UP UNTIL NOW Collective, Georgia (2021)
from SOUL(SIGNS): AN ASL PLAYLIST Commissioned and Distributed by Broadstream Media
Elevating sign language from supporting role to center stage, UP UNTIL NOW Collective’s American Sign Language (ASL) cover of Gladys Knight & The Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia” is performed by Deaf actor and dancer Mervin Primeaux-O’Bryant and Brandon Kazen-Maddox, a hearing Grandchild of Deaf Adults (GODA), dancer, choreographer, and third-generation native signer of ASL.
- AUGUST 1-31, 2021 | Jennifer West, Painted Cat Hacker Film (2021)
Glowing felines will take over Times Square in Jennifer West’s Painted Cat Hacker Film, which considers the legacy of cats on the internet and in experimental film, transforming the “low art” of cat internet videos into a mesmerizing and monumental public artwork.
More Public Art Unveiled on Flag Day:
- How I Keep Looking Up | On view beginning June 14, 2021
Broadway Plaza between 45th and 46th Streets
Times Square Arts’ new artist-in-residence, Christine Wong Yap has been collaborating with Encore Community Services, a support program based in Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen that has been providing services for elderly New Yorkers for over 40 years and will unveil a series of flags representing the individual seniors’ sources of resilience and will be ceremoniously displayed in Times Square beginning on Flag Day, June 14, 2021.
For more information, visit www.timessquarenyc.org and follow the Times Square Alliance on Twitter @TimesSquareNYC, Instagram @TimesSquareNYC and Facebook @TimesSquareNYC.
For more information about Times Square Arts, visit www.tsq.org/arts and follow on Instagram @TSqArts.
