During the 1990s, Times Square changed its colors, from a notoriously seedy--some would say sleazy--urban center to a family-friendly, corporate-sponsored entertainment district. Whether this was a renaissance or a loss of soul, a dream fulfilled or just another urban nightmare, the transformation of America's best-known intersection illuminates conflicts occurring in U.S. cities nationwide--between pleasure and moralism, participation and exclusion, global connectedness and local roots. These conflicts, as old as the city itself, are part of the living, breathing urban center of light and dark that Daniel Makagon portrays in "Where the Ball Drops. Interweaving vivid description and startling analysis, Makagon's work stretches the boundaries of scholarship to include artfully rendered interviews, dialogues, and reflections. Capturing the competing social and cultural fantasies, the everyday events and historical visions that have given shape and meaning to Times Square, "Where the Ball Drops reveals an ongoing urban drama that thrives on the contradictions of public and private life, on individual desires for belonging and anonymity, and on a sense of place and placelessness. Never losing sight of the connection and disconnect between larger political and economic developments and what goes on in the streets, Makagon deftly moves between identification with the district's many personalities and broader social commentary--from Times Square's image as "Crossroads of the World" to conflict in the streets to a swank party with a view of the New Year's festivities. As a result, "Where the Ball Drops is one of the most complete, nuanced, and ultimately convincing accounts to date of thechanges wrought by the contemporary urban revitalization.