See D. W. Dunlap, On Broadway (1990).
Theatre district in New York City. It is named for the avenue that runs through the Times Square area in central Manhattan, where most of the larger theatres are located. Broadway attracted theatre producers and impresarios from the mid-19th century. The number and size of the theatres grew with New York's increasing prosperity, and by the 1890s the brightly lit street was called “the Great White Way.” By 1925, the height of theatrical activity in New York, about 80 theatres were located on or near Broadway; by 1980 only about 40 remained. In the 1990s the revitalization of the seedy Times Square neighbourhood attracted larger audiences, though high production costs limited the viability of serious plays in Broadway theatres, which often chose to mount big musicals and other crowd-pleasing commercial ventures. Seealso Off-Broadway.
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all of it land.
There were 882 households out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,167, and the median income for a family was $45,066. Males had a median income of $27,181 versus $20,930 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,274. About 5.1% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.