Fielding Eager Ticket Buyers at Times Square's TKTS

It's a swift-paced atmosphere that drives the TKTS booth in Times Square as the dozens of sales windows are visited daily by thousands of hopeful theatre goers expecting to nab reduced, same-day tickets to shows on and Off Broadway. Bill Castellano, TKTS's head treasurer likens the experience of fielding the ongoing customer service requests to, "Working on a Wall Street trading floor", he tells the New York Times.

Still, TKTS, which first opened in 1973 and is operated by the Theatre Development Fund, is a recognized win-win for theatre patrons, as well as the theatres  who are banking on the hopes of selling as many tickets as possible to their shows. "We're marrying what the shows need, which is to sell the seats that haven't sold, with what the people need, which is access to the seats," explains Victoria Bailey, the Theater Development Fund's executive director.

To read the rest of the story in the New York Times, please click here.

New York City's TKTS in Times Square first opened in 1973 and is operated by the Theatre Development Fund. The Times Square booth sells day-of-performance tickets only, while the South Street Seaport booth sells tickets to evening performances on the day of the performance and matinee tickets The Day Before.

The original TKTS pavilion in Times Square was designed by the Manhattan architecture firm of Mayers & Schiff Associates and was inaugurated by Mayor John Lindsay. The city had a capital budget of $5,000 to build the pavilion, a sum that was obviously insufficient. But the city did have an "operating" budget, which the architects used in a plan based on renting, rather than buying, the pavilion's parts. The sales booth was housed in a rented construction trailer; the armature around and on top of the trailer was made from rented scaffolding parts. Interwoven through the armature was a continuous white canvas ribbon emblazoned with the "TKTS" logo. Foundations could not be dug under the booth because the subway structure is just below ground level. To hold down this giant "wind kite" the architects utilized pile driving test weights (also rented). The pavilion received many design awards, including the American Institute of Graphic Arts' Excellence in Communications Graphics; The City Club of New York's Bard Award for Architecture and Urban Design; and the N.Y. State Association of Architects Certificate of Merit for Design Excellence.

A new TKTS booth for the Times Square location began construction in May 2006 and was completed in October 2008. During this time, the TKTS booth was temporarily relocated to the nearby Marriott Marquis hotel. After many delays, the new TKTS booth opened for business on October 16, 2008 on a renovated Duffy Square, with a ceremony featuring Mayor Michael Bloomberg and various Broadway performers. According to the Theater Development Fund, the final cost of the new booth is $19 million.

In the 35 years since the booth first opened, there have been 6 mayors and 51 million tickets sold. Theaters release tickets for sale by TKTS throughout the day, with more tickets often available within a few hours of showtime. TKTS accepts cash and travelers checks and now also accepts credit cards. The waiting times at Duffy Square are normally longer than at the Seaport location. Available shows are displayed on large signs near the ticket windows. The new booth has twelve sales windows.