"Times Square" is an invisible, deliberately unmarked area of sound at the north end of the pedestrian island at Broadway between 46th and 45th streets. Conceived and originally installed by artist Max Neuhaus, it provides a rich harmonic sound texture that emerges from a large underground vault covered by a grating. 

Commenting on artwork, Neuhaus has said, "For those who find and accept the work's anomaly, the island becomes a different place, separate, but including its surroundings. People, having no way of knowing that it has been deliberately made, usually claim the work as a place of their own discovering." 

Installed by the artist in 1977, the artwork remained active until 1992, when Neuhaus moved abroad. In 2002 it was reinstated with the help of the Times Square Business Improvement District, MTA Arts & Design, and the Dia Art Foundation, which assumed responsibility for its upkeep. 

Max Neuhaus (1939–2009) was born in Texas, and lived in New York and Paris. As a musician, composer and artist, he was a noted interpreter of contemporary and experimental percussion music in the 1960s. He went on to create numerous permanent and short-term sound installations in the four decades that followed. He began his studies in music at the Manhattan School of Music and in 1958, he met John Cage, who inspired his decision to become a professional percussionist. After a solo tour in Europe in 1965, Neuhaus started developing projects that went beyond the strictly musical realm; among them were site-specific pieces that he was the first to call “sound installations.” His work has been exhibited internationally in museums and galleries, including solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art, Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, the Whitney Biennial and the Venice Biennale.