New Year’s Eve in Times Square

Throughout my childhood, the tradition was to gather at Aunt Antoinette’s house on New Year’s Eve. The grown-ups would socialize and the kids would be glued to the television, watching the festivities in Times Square. It just wasn’t New Year’s without seeing the ball drop…

I didn’t think about it then, but recently I’ve wondered about the history of New Year’s Eve at Times Square. How did that spot become so synonymous with New Year’s Eve? And what is the reason behind the big lighted ball?

According to the Times Square Alliance, the first New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square took place in 1904 to commemorate the official opening of the New York Times’ new headquarters. Then owner Alfred Ochs decided he would offer a “party for the ages” and he did – 200,000 people attended a day-long street festival and fireworks display. It was said that the noise from the crowd at midnight could be heard 30 miles away. The success of this first celebration made Times Square the place to be every year since. Read the full history.

Two years later, the City banned the use of fireworks. What to do? Alfred Ochs was not undaunted – a “time ball” constructed of wood and iron, weighing 700 pounds, and lit by 100 25-watt bulbs was lowered down the flagpole at the top of the Times Tower. Since then, the ball has been lowered each year except 1942 and 1943, during the City’s wartime “dimout” and the number of people watching is over one billion worldwide. Click here for more information about the New Year’s Eve Ball.

- Andrea M.

photo courtesy of asterix611