Star Junction

File:Star Junction.jpg

Star Junction

File:Policepatrol.jpg

Small police station in the middle of Star Junction. A police car is seen in the foreground.

Star Junction is a district in the borough of Algonquin in Liberty City. It appears in Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Its real-life archetype is Times Square, NYC. Star Junction is bordered by Middle Park to the north and The Triangle to the south. The Meat Quarter, Westminster and Purgatory are on its western borders, while Hatton Gardens, Lancet and Easton sit on its eastern borders. There are also several theatres such as Split Sides which show different performances. The Star Junction Intersection is made up of Burlesque, Denver-Exeter Avenue and Kunzite Street, making up one of Algonquin's main attractions.

Places of interest

While most districts in Liberty City are generally not strictly adherent to the design of their real life counterpart, Star Junction's is more accurate in layout as Times Square, placing in-game renditions of Time Square's landmarks as accurately as possible.

Star Junction borrows elements from the following buildings and structures:

• 1 Times Square, although the building is in fact situated in neighboring Triangle.

• Duffy Square.

• A LCPD sub-station located right in the middle of Star Junction is similar in design to the Times Square Police Station.

• Just north of the LCPD sub-station is an LC Services Recruiting Center, the game's equivalent of Time Square's United States armed forces recruiting station. As oppose to the real-life rendition's association with the military (including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines), the in-game rendition is linked to civic services (including the "LCPD", "LCFD", "DOA" and "COLP").

• 1605 Broadway (Crowne Plaza Hotel), depicted in game as the Star Plaza Hotel.

• 1585 Broadway (Morgan Stanley Building). The in-game rendition features a corner street level signage bearing "Cooper Jackson" naming, similar to the Morgan Stanley name, as well as the manner in which the name is rendered on the real-life building's sign. Like its real-life counterpart, the in-game depiction features several rolling stock tickers.

• 1535 Broadway (Marriott Marquis Hotel).

• 1501 Broadway (Paramount Building) [1]. The in-game rendition houses "Canyon Entertainment", and a Superstar Café and an unspecified Superstar venue advertising a Love Fist gig. While forming part of the Star Junction skyline, the building is in fact situated in neighboring Triangle.

• 1568 Broadway (Doubletree Guest Suites/Embassy Suites Times Square), depicted in game as the Banner Hotel and Spa. The game's renditions appears to integrate some of the tower's feature but opts for a more simple symmetrical design. In addition, the orientation of the building relative to the streets differs to that in real life. The "Theater Seagull" is also integrate into the building, adopting more traditional street-level brick facades of the real-life building.

• 1540 Broadway (Bertelsmann Building). The in-game rendition houses a "Thespian Theaters", which entrance is used as a venue for Pathos.

• 1500 Broadway (Times Square Studios) [2]. While forming part of the Star Junction skyline, the building is in fact situated in neighboring Triangle.

• 1 Astor Plaza, which, in real-life, is occupied by MTV Studios on the second floor. The in-game replication of the building houses a similar establishment for MeTV, a play of MTV, as well as a "MeTV Theater", and a spinning turntable prop on the side of the building. The building has a helipad, which occasionally spawns a Maverick, on the top accessible via a window cleaner lift at its western face. One of the 200 flying rats can also be found there.

• The Condé Nast Building. Its in-game rendition at Kunzite Street houses BAWSAQ's main office on the lowest floors in the same way the real-life rendition houses NASDAQ.

• 7 Times Square (Times Square Tower) [3].

• Rockefeller Center [4]: The in-game rendition features replicas of four of Rockefeller Center's 17 buildings, includes 30 Rockefeller Plaza (GE Building), 630 Fifth Avenue (International Building), 1260 & 1270 Avenue of the Americas (Radio City Music Hall, depicted in game as the Live Central Music Venue and American Metal Climax (AMAX) Building/former RKO Building), and a low-rise building based on either 610 Fifth Avenue (La Maison Francaise) or 620 Fifth Avenue (British Empire Building). The building complex is centered around a sunken plaza, similar to the Rockefeller Center's grand plaza, with only a fountain and flagpoles as decors.

• 209 West 42nd Street (New Victory Theater), depicted in game as the Liberteen.

• 226 West 46th Street (Richard Rodgers Theatre), depicted in game as the Magic Curtain. The game rendition is longer than the real life counterpart, having five arches along its facade instead of three.

• The Plaza Hotel, depicted in game as The Emissary, which rooftop sign is lined by five stars below, implying it is a five star hotel.

• 50 Central Park South (Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park/former St. Moritz Hotel) [5], depicted in game as the Majestic Hotel and located at the same block as The Emissary.

Other landmarks in the area include:

• Liberty City's comedy club, the Split Sides, hosts comedy acts with Ricky Gervais and Katt Willams (nicknamed "The Pimp" by the introduction narrator).

• Restaurants and bars
  • Burger Shot
  • Cluckin' Bell
  • Superstar Café

Transport

Nearby subway stations are Frankfort Station and Easton Station.