The year went by fast, right? And December is going by fast too. Let’s say it together—before you know it, the year will be over. If you don’t have New Year’s Eve plans yet, it’s time to make them—even if those plans mean sitting your keister on the couch and watching people who were crazy enough to go out and celebrate.
Looking toward One Times Square
In fact, when it comes to the New Year’s Eve celebration in the United States, there are two kinds of people—people who think everyone in Times Square on New Year’s Eve is out of their mind, and people who want to be there even if only once in their lives.
I guess there is a third kind of person though because that would be me—someone who knows that everyone in Times Square on New Year’s Eve is out their mind, but who has already been there and (under the right circumstances) might do it again.
Two or three times in the 1990s, I was in the crowd where Broadway crosses Seventh. If you go, or you’re just curious about the experience, here’s what you need to know:
• Go early. Crowds start forming in Times Square by late afternoon. If you’re not there by 8:00 p.m., don’t expect to get too close.
• You’ll be herded like cattle. For safety reasons and easy access in and out in case of emergencies, police keep people in groups behind barriers. And once you’re in there, it’s not so easy to get out.
Midnight in Times Square
• If you do get out, you won’t get back in. There’s no showing your stub at this event. If you leave your place, don’t expect the police to let you back. And yes, this means that you can’t leave to go to the bathroom—even if you can see it in the Times Square McDonald’s just a few yards away.
• You probably won’t be able to see the ball. Think about it. The ball is at the top of a twenty-five story building (the second tallest in the world when it opened)—the perspective from below it on the ground isn’t so great. If the crowd is spilling into side streets, some people won’t even be able to see the building.
• It will be a long wait. If you’re lucky, the people around you might be entertaining. Even the cops might be entertaining. Just don’t ask them to sing McNamara’s Band. You might, however, be able to start a sing-a-long of American Pie which should waste ten minutes.
• Alcohol isn’t allowed. But given that you can’t get to a bathroom, is that such a bad thing?
• It will be loud. You should be glad of that though, because if it weren’t for the crowd yelling you probably wouldn’t even know when the ball is about to drop.
Clearing out of Times Square
• It will take a while to get out. Seriously. You don’t just walk away when it’s over. It can take up to an hour for over a million people to clear out of there.
• You’ll either love it or hate it. Much like New York itself, Times Square on New Year’s Eve is an experience you’ll either love or want to forget. You won’t forget this though—trust me on that one.
If you go, make a vacation out of it and check out some other attractions. Reservations in New York City over the holidays are absolutely necessary in both hotels and restaurants. And expect to pay higher prices just because it’s December 31. They can get away with it, so they do.
Happy New Year.
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16 Responses
You may have just convince me that ringing in the New Year my way is more appealing. I’m usually in bed by 11:30.
I don’t handle the mass of humanity so well.
I’ve always wanted to do that, but I don’t think my kid’s bladder is up to it.
This wasn’t appealing the ten years that I lived in the city, and, after your post, I’m convinced I’ll never spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
<• It will take a while to get out. Seriously. You don’t just walk away when it’s over. It can take up to an hour for over a million people to clear out of there.”
But do realize that people WILL leave. When we were in college, we thought folks stayed there partying all night. So on December 29, we had this grand idea to do the Times Square thing, but we couldn’t find a room in NYC with that short notice. Our plan was to fly in anyhow, stay up all night and fly home sometime the next day to sleep it off. Thank God someone had to back out and we decided it wouldn’t be any fun without him, because that year Dick Clark was talking about how it was hard to believe that in an hour, the streets would be deserted. That was back when Times Square had a seedier reputation … having no place to go would have been a disaster for a group of Midwestern rubes.
See, I told you some people would want to do it and others would think we’re crazy. By the way, if anyone is ever in that situation without a place to be at night in NYC, transportation hubs are always active and patrolled. You would have been safe at Grand Central or Port Authority in midtown. You could have gone to the airport to wait too, but I’d recommend taking a cab late at night and not the subway if you’re headed out to Queens.
I’ve did it once as a romantic getaway. It was an exprience that I will never forget.
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We were there once – a life changing experience. Now we want to have a NYE party and watch the ball drop, but no TV cable avialable in the condo community center. Am trying to find out if live broadcast will be made on internet so we can access on available wi-fi on a notebook and project the image for our guests. Any ideas on who may actually broadcast on free internet?
Here is some info…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Clark‘s_New_Year’s_Rockin’_Eve
I tried looking up for live broadcast but I guess your best bet if to find that channel on a satellite tv or something.. good luck and happy new year!
Seriously! Could they have come up with a more entertaining way to bring in the New Year. That ball drop is so juvenile. So Boring.
Other cities have it much better.
Sorry, I didn’t respond earlier, Chip, but I was out of the country. Did you find the broadcast online? Maybe at abc.com?
Chris, the ball drop is done out of tradition. It began over 100 years ago in Times Square and was done far earlier in other places. You may think it’s boring, but millions of people who’ve gone to Time Square on New Year’s Eve and billions who’ve watched on TV don’t think so. There are also hundreds of other things to do in New York on New Year’s Eve…the ball drop is just the most popular and best known.
Thanks a lot. I agree with u
This will be my first year going and I can’t wait…. although I’m not sure how I’ll handle “no bathrooms”
Wish me luck!
I’ve lived in NYC on 42nd St. since 2003, just a few blocks from Times Square, and there’s NO WAY I’d ever spend New Year’s Eve being herded around like cattle, with no toilets, no booze, freezing cold…ughh…sounds like HELL ! It’s bad enough walking home through that area around 3pm on New Year’s Eve – police everywhere, barriers everywhere, annoying people everywhere….arrrggghhhhh!!! nightmare!!!!!!!
There is nothing that looks less exciting than spending NYE in Times Sq. Like was said…No bathrooms, no booze. What do 1,000,000 people know that I don’t?
what do you know/think about the various bars and restaurants in the area that promise a view of the ball?
I’ll be travelling from Australia for this and Applebees seems a really good deal!