Though most life-long New Yorkers I know are horrified by this, Times Square has always been my favorite spot in New York City — in no small part because it’s where I lived for a few months when I moved up here (it was a small student housing building that’s since been demolished to make way for the new Times HQ).

And also because it’s a (literally) shining and shimmering monument to the free market.

So, here are a few pictures I took of it recently.