The area west of Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan takes
Times Square
as its center, an exploded version of the east side's more tight-lipped monuments to capitalism. Though in some ways it cannot compete with the richer avenues and enclaves to the east, the area north of the once "naughty, bawdy 42nd Street," with its
Theater District
and
Restaurant Row
, is well worth exploring. Most of Times Square's pornography and crime is gone, replaced in part by products of Disney imagination, modern high-rise office buildings and hotels that threaten to spoil the square's historic greasy appeal. The further west you head, the fewer tourist attractions you'll find, with the notable exception of a retired US aircraft carrier that encompasses the massive
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
.
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