New Years Eve Times Square Ball Drop -- HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

(...all that matters!)

Every year at exactly the same time THRONGS of people descend upon a certain part of New York City to celebrate -- Times Square! They come from all over the world, to stand in the freezing cold weather, among a group of complete strangers, anxiously waiting to ring in the New Year. And at 11:59pm the sound of the roar of the crowd begins to rise as the Ball that sits high above at One Times Square starts to drop -- everybody eagerly awaiting the final 10 second countdown and the end of one year.., the beginning of another.

But before Times Square was even called Times Square, when that area of the city was still known as Longacre Square, the first New Years celebration took place in 1904-1905, when the owner of The New York Times (Adolph Ochs) moved the headquarters of the paper to what is now One Times Square. In an effort to compete with its rival newspaper The Herald, the owner of the Times needed a little publicity, so after the Spring of 1904 when Longacre Square was renamed Times Square Adolph Ochs decided to throw the biggest New Years celebration to date, by setting off a few sticks of DYNAMITE on the roof of his new headquarters followed by fireworks being shot out of the top floors of the building.

200, 000 people showed-up to what would eventually become the biggest party of EVERY year… But it wasn't without its hiccups -- those first two celebrations (1904-1906), the burning embers from the fireworks burned some of the people (not badly) in the crowd below, which led to the banning of explosives in New York City… So, Adolph Ochs needed to come up with a bigger and better idea to ring in the New Year.

After seeing the Time Ball at the Western Union Building, it was suggested that would be a safer replacement for the fireworks -- and an even bigger spectacle (more publicity). A Time Ball was invented and used so that ships at sea would be able to figure out their longitude.., and although they are no longer used a few still remain as historical attractions.

So, in 1907 on December 31st at 11:59pm.., a very similar time ball started to descend from the top of One Times Square lit with over 100 light bulbs, made of wood and iron, weighing 700 pounds -- and a tradition was born! And besides the years of 1942 and 1943 when the ball could not be dropped due to the lighting restrictions during World War II and was replaced with a moment of silence.., it has descended every year since to a riotous crowd that gets bigger each year.

(It looks a helluva lot different today)

And although the estimated crowd for this year is sitting at over 2 million people packing my neighborhood, it has had its "ups-n-downs." In 1917 the ball dropped in unlit due to the wartime coal shortage.., and those giant crowds weren't always so giant, either… Back in the late 1970's Times Square was a much different place, as was the entire city.., but Times Square specifically was a pretty grimy and dangerous place to be -- just check out the moviees Taxi Driver or Midnight Cowboy if you want to get a look at what Times Square used to like, it just might shock some of you…

The crowds that were over 1 million even back in the 1950's dwindled down to 50,000 during the late 1970's as people were too scared to attend. Being a city kid, it was kinda cool not having the whole neighborhood swarmed with tourists -- it was more of a New York thing. All of us that were too young to get into bars would go and drink (get stupid drunk) in the streets and have The Ball all to ourselves, well us and all the degenerate criminals -- still, it was a great time!

But as time went on.., and New York City started to lose much of its character -- and at the same time became a safer place to be, the crowds quickly returned. This year with an estimated 2 million people flocking to this once a year, and for many once in a lifetime event, in many ways, it barely resembles its history… The Ball now weighs 11,875 pounds and has 2,688 Waterford crystals with LED lights that are supposed to resemble flying butterflies. And it was Dick Clarks (now Ryan Seacrest) New Years Rockin' Eve that put it on the map for the rest of the country, besides just boring news coverage, they now had a live show -- with a countdown!

And now today, in a little more than 24 hours, it will happen much like it did over a century ago… Even with all the technical glitches it has seen or the botched lip-synced performances (can anyone say Mariah Carey), with all the celebrations that take place all over the world.., there is nothing like watching THE BALL drop in Times Square -- it is indescribable. The energy and excitement from all those drunk people is infectious and unavoidable -- for those last 10 seconds of the year -- every year, nothing else matters to all those that made the trek to Time Square. Even with the different and very real threats the world faces today the crowds just keep getting bigger.., and still the only thing that matters, is having your honey right beside you, screaming like a mad person as those final 10 seconds tick off the clock, so you can lay a nice big wet kiss on her (or him) at the stroke of midnight.., and the beginning of a new year. Have a HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!!


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