Yes, much different now than it was years ago. I'm not a New Yorker, but have been there a number of times since the 70s. To me, it definitely used to be a dirty, crowded, kinda sleazy place, but always interesting. Back then, felt much more like there were mostly locals (good and bad elements), business people, and the whole theater, bar/restaurant thing, as well as the electronic shops. Never had a very 'safe' feel to me, especially at night.
Since Giuliani (SP?) cleaned it up in the late 90s, it has a much, much different feel (where did all the scumbags go...?) To me, it now has a Las Vegas, touristy kind of feel, especially during the summer). No more red light area, lots and lots of big lit signs/massive video screen, street vendors/artists all over the place, lots of tourists walking around in the summer looking around in awe. Still very crowded... Of course still the theater, bar/restaurant scene is still going on in Times Square. On the weekend, there a lots of street fairs, etc. nearby. Just a much more enjoyable, safer-feeling, cleaner, place to be now.
And that's just Times Square. The whole Soho, Village, Chelsea, etc. districts are similarly much different, and much 'nicer'. That's just my observations, and opinion, YMMV. It certainly has a bunch of issues, but NYC really is an amazing, wold class city, if you take the time to explore/learn about it. That being said, I'm very happy to visit occasionally, and not live there!
Times Square has always had the
