Times Square is to New York what Leicester Square is to London, the Champs Elysee is to Paris, and what Alexanderplatz is to us jaded Berliners. A capitalist’s garden of eden, and hell on earth to the rest of us, it’s a blinding barrage of billboards, burger-joints and soaring skyscrapers that’s enough to induce spontaneous claustrophobia in any unsuspecting punter.
Swarming with flocks of gormless tourists gawking at the McDonald’s “M” and dawdling in infuriating formation, Times Square is little more than a New Yorker’s nightmare. But for SLEEK’s favourite wobbly photographer, Maansi Jain, the baffling bedlam is an action-packed playground. When the Berlin photographer took to the big apple last week, she found the surreal Manhattan square littered with a polychromatic pastiche of characters. Here are the brightest of the bunch.
Rowan Fox, a retired "happy atheist". She is known as the green haired lady and protests against the bigots in her hometown of Deland, Florida.
Joe, with the Frozen show on Broadway, @joejoebeau
Veronica, guide in NYC, @newyork_by_veronica
Samantha, works in retail, @samantha.timmins1884
Tashfia (pictured on her birthday!), student, @tashfia.k
Felicia, housekeeper
Trisha, public safety officer, @dream_mahogany
Anna, homemaker, from the Philippines
Ian and Kana, students, @oumaipasuta
Michael Rivera, musician and artist
Valeria, performing artist, @_viof_
Ochy, beauty paegent winner, "Señora Colombia", @1osy
Ben, writer at Reuters, @bkellermensch
Rashane, emergency medical technician, @shane_bigz
Ronald, Times Square tourist merchandise stand owner
Left to Right: Josh, @jlacedd, AD, @adonysjamison and Xavier, @presidentxay, highschoolers
Helen Khilkova, fashion, stock Comme des Garcons in Ukraine, @atelier1conceptstore
Photography by Maansi Jain