Times Square red, Times Square blue / Samuel R. Delany.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Delany, Samuel R.

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Sexual cultures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sex industry--New York (State)--New York.

Sex industry.

Sex customs--New York (State)--New York.

Sex customs.

Urban renewal.

History.

Male homosexuality.

Times Square (New York, N.Y.)--Social life and customs.

Times Square (New York, N.Y.).

Times Square (New York, N.Y.)--Social conditions.

Male homosexuality--New York (State)--New York.

Urban renewal--New York (State)--New York--History--20th century.

New York (State)--New York.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xviii, 203 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [1999]

Summary:

If one street in America can claim to be the most infamous, it is surely 42nd Street. Between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, 42nd Street was once known for its peep shows, street corner hustlers and movie houses. Over the last two decades the notion of safety -- from safe sex and safe neighborhoods, to safe cities and safe relationships -- has overcome 42nd Street, giving rise to a Disney store, a children's theater, and large, neon-lit cafes. 42nd Street has, in effect, become a family tourist attraction for visitors from Berlin, Tokyo, Westchester, and New Jersey's suburbs.

Samuel R. Delany sees a disappearance not only of the old Times Square, but of the complex social relationships that developed there: the points of contact between people of different classes and races in a public space. In Times Square Red, Times Square Blue, Delany tackles the question of why public restrooms, peepshows, and tree-filled parks are necessary to a city's physical and psychological landscape. He argues that starting in 1985, New York City criminalized peep shows and sex movie houses to clear the way for the rebuilding of Times Square. Delany's critique reveals how Times Square is being "renovated" behind the scrim of public safety while the stage is occupied by gentrification.

Times Square Red, Times Square Blue paints a portrait of a society dismantling the institutions that promote communication between classes, and disguising its fears of cross-class contact as "family values." Unless we overcome our fears and claim our "community of contact, " it is a picture that will be replayed in cities across America.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-202).

ISBN:

0814719198

OCLC:

40838591