If you’re holiday shopping in Times Square this year and find yourself in need of relief, you may consider the following information to be of use. A well-known toilet-paper brand is setting up free restrooms on Broadway and 46th Street, opening November 23. And said company has decided to offer five $10,000 bathroom attendants brand-ambassador positions, in what can only be a ploy to garner publicity. We bit. But we did find out a servicey tidbit: If you’ve had sex in these five public bathrooms, don’t try to add the sixth in Times Square when Molly is there; she’s a prude.

Now that the detritus of Halloween has been cleared away, it’s time to gear up for the prime romantic opportunities of the holiday season. Gentlemen, begin your training today with a grand gesture in Times Square. At 4pm, anyone with a trench coat in his wardrobe and a song in his heart (preferably Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”) can show up at the red TKTS Booth’s stairs (47th St and Broadway) to re-create John Cusack’s iconic “boom box scene” from 1989’s Say Anything. The first 75 impersonators to show up will receive a free copy of the 20th anniversary DVD of the film, but it’s safe to say that all attendees have a shot at YouTube fame with a stunt like this. Just watch out for the swooning tourists—I ain’t saying she’s a visa digger, but she ain’t messing with no unnaturalized residents!

For those who don’t have time to stand around looking lovelorn in Times Square in the middle of the afternoon (where are your priorities?), there’s something for you too. It’s similarly old-school, but in a more wholesome and infinitely less sexy sort of way. At 7pm, The Bell House kicks off the first round of “The World’s Biggest Connect Four Championship” ($3 to play, free to watch), which will continue for—you guessed it—four consecutive Tuesdays this month and culminate with the crowning of Brooklyn’s Connect Four king on November 24. Themed vodka drinks are on the house from 7 to 8pm, and well drinks and select pints will be four bucks the rest of the night. E-mail connectfour@thebellhouseny.com to register.

Image via imdb.com.

Good news for all of you aspiring art stars! The Metropolis Art Prize 2009—$20,000, plus a chance to see your video displayed on the big screens at Times Square—has just announced a deadline extension for entries. The new date is October 25. For futher details and a place to upload your video, check out the Metropolis Art prize site here.

Have you ever walked through Times Square, looked at all the honking-big video screens and thought to yourself, You know what would look cool? My artwork displayed up there! Well, guess what: Now is your chance to get your art vid shown amid the glamour and glitz of the fabled Crossroads of the World—and win a nice chunk of change to boot! The folks at Babelgum Metropolis, in association with Time Out New York, Scope International Contemporary Art Show and Perpetual Art Machine.com, are mounting the Metropolis Art Prize 2009, an open-call competition with a top prize of $20,000 and an opportunity to have your video included in “the world’s biggest art show.” The deadline for entries has been extended to October 25, so hurry here for contest details and a place to upload your video. Who says size doesn’t matter?

What are you doing for lunch today? If you happen to be in or around Times Square, your answer should be, “Breaking a Guinness World Record, obvi!” The title up for grabs is Most Games of Tic-Tac-Toe Played Simultaneously, and the attempt kicks off at 1pm outside ABC Studios (at 44th Street and Broadway).

To snag a place in tic-tac-toe history, 500 games must be played by 1,000 players (two per game). Don’t worry if you have to share the board with a stranger, because reps from Tic Tac will be handing out free breath mints to mask the effects of lunch-on-the-run. And if your boss is blowing up your BlackBerry, telling you to get back to your desk, just say you’re doing charity. You won’t be lying—the event coincides with Tic Tac’s $100,000 contribution to CancerCare.

Sharpen your skills with a practice game above.

Tourist-watching has been taken to a whole new level, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg’s car-free shutdown of Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets: New Yorkers watching tourists watch other tourists in the most touristy part of town. From lawn chairs! With cameras! And picnics! So, uh, who’s lamer—them or us?

Rendering of Times Square pedestrian space

Wandering through midtown is about to get a little bit easier (well, hopefully): Beginning Sunday 24, seven blocks on Broadway—between 42nd and 47th Streets, and 33rd and 35th Streets—will be closed to vehicular traffic and converted to pedestrian space. The street closures are part of the city’s “Green Light for Midtown” program, with the goal of improving traffic in Times Square and Herald Square; both areas are notorious for being hellish traffic holes of doom. Vehicles will be diverted onto Seventh and Ninth Avenues, and the DOT is also making improvements (longer green lights, more lanes of traffic) to ensure that the congestion doesn’t simply move one avenue over. Both pedestrian plazas are expected to be completed by the end of August.

And there’s even more good news for pedestrians: A plethora of outdoor events are planned to inaugurate the new spaces. Read more »

We just got this sneak peek of Pink Green Caviar, the new video by former TONY cover artist Marilyn Minter. Minter is doing double duty with this piece: This clip is actually a trailer for her upcoming show at Salon 94 Freemans gallery, opening April 28. But a longer version can be seen in Times Square, starting April 1 up on the MTV HD screen as part of Creative Time’s “441/2″ series. She explains the idea behind the trailer in our Q&A.