I worked in the theatre district between 1979 and 1997, so I saw the beginnings pof the change in the area: tearing down the theatres for the new Marquis Hotel, the TKTS booth and its long lines before it became a stadium seating and much more comfortable, and the greadual decline of Olde New York into Mall Anywhere USA. When I left midtown in 1997 to work primarily at home, with only occasional jaunts into my old turf, the big changes occurred. I remember riding a 104 Broadway bus into midtown one night to meet friends for a show, and the old geographic landmarks I needed to tell me where I was no longer existed! I didn't know where I was and I no longer recognized the tune. In 2009, on my way to a performance of Finian's Rainbow, I took the subway to 42nd Street but I could barely walk through the mob from Broadway to 8th Avenue.
