Peep Shows, Sex, And Crack: 27 Photos Of Times Square At Its Lowest

Published June 29, 2021
Updated October 30, 2024

Before Times Square was a global attraction, it was home to sex shops and drug dealers in what was considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in New York City.

Today’s Times Square is known as the iconic tourist destination of New York, becoming the most visited place on the globe and attracting over 131 million visitors a year.

But before it became home to Broadway shows, chain restaurants, and television studios, it spent the latter half of the 20th century as the symbol of New York’s decay.

Initially arising as a cultural center of theaters, music halls, and boutique hotels, Times Square fell into disrepair during the Great Depression. Adult theaters and sex shops then took over while the neighborhood became an open market for prostitution and drugs.

By 1984, Times Square was one of the most dangerous areas of the city, with over 2,300 crimes committed every year in a one-block radius. We look at this Times Square of yesteryear, where chaos and seediness reigned supreme:

For more of Times Square, watch this gripping 40-minute video, "Doin' Time In Times Square," dubbed "the home video from hell," shot by director and artist Charlie Ahearn from his Times Square apartment in the 1980s:


Enjoy this look at the seedier incarnations of Times Square? Then check out these 1970s New York photos and some staggering images of the New York City subway in the 1980s.

author
Alexander Baldwin
author
Alexander is a cofounder of All That's Interesting with an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in History and Economics and an MSc from the School of Oriental and African Studies in Economics.
editor
Jaclyn Anglis
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
Citation copied
COPY
Cite This Article
Baldwin, Alexander. "Peep Shows, Sex, And Crack: 27 Photos Of Times Square At Its Lowest." AllThatsInteresting.com, June 29, 2021, https://allthatsinteresting.com/vintage-times-square-pictures. Accessed September 10, 2025.