Counting Display "The National Debt Clock" - New York, NY - Counting and Measuring Displays on Waymarking.com

Designed and installed by real estate developer Seymour Durst the US National Debt clock was first installed in 1989 on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, one block away from Times Square. At the time the original clock was installed the national debt was around $2.7 Trillion. The clock remained in that location until 2000 when for the first time in history the clock began to count backwards because the debt was decreasing. Seymour Durst's son Douglas decided at that time to remove the clock because "it was put up to focus attention on the increasing national debt, and it's served its purpose." He covered the clock with a red, white and blue drape but the reversal of the national debt only lasted for 2 years, and it began counting up again before the scheduled removal of the clock. Durst chose to uncover the clock and begin the count again.

In 2004 the building that housed the original clock was demolished. Later that year, the Durst Foundation unveiled the second incarnation of the clock at 1133 Sixth Avenue near the intersection with 44th Street, next door to the New York City offices of the IRS. In 2007 the clock had to be updated to replace the leftmost digit, which had only been programmed to display a dollar sign, to be capable of displaying a number because the national debt had risen above $10 Trillion for the first time.

In 2017 the clock was moved again, to its current location. At the time of me taking the photographs for this Waymark (around 6pm on May 24th, 2023) the clock read $31, 449, 613, 148, 458. It the approximately 30 seconds it took for me to take the three photos it went up more that $1M.

Date of Your Photos: 05/24/2023 Website: Not listed

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