NYC Magazine » Times Square

History Of The Ball Drop in Times Square

Yelena Mandenberg — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:17:33 +0000

A Scene from a New Year's Eve long past...

Ever wondered how our very publicized way of spending New Year’s came to be? Well, The Times Square Alliance has posted up a brief history on their website, which you should check out. However, I have re-posted this information for your viewing pleasure:

“New York in 1904 was a city on the verge of tremendous changes – and, not surprisingly, many of those changes had their genesis in the bustling energy and thronged streets of Times Square. Two innovations that would completely transform the Crossroads of the World debuted in 1904: the opening of the city’s first subway line, and the first-ever celebration of New Year’s Eve in Times Square.

This inaugural bash commemorated the official opening of the new headquarters of The New York Times. The newspaper’s owner, German Jewish immigrant Alfred Ochs, had successfully lobbied the city to rename Longacre Square, the district surrounding his paper’s new home, in honor of the famous publication (a contemporary article in The New York Times credited Interborough Rapid Transit Company President August Belmont for suggesting the change to the Rapid Transit Commission). The impressive Times Tower, marooned on a tiny triangle of land at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street, was at the time Manhattan’s second-tallest building — the tallest if measured from the bottom of its three massive sub-basements, built to handle the heavy weight demands of The Times‘ up-to-date printing equipment.

The building was the focus of an unprecedented New Year’s Eve celebration. Ochs spared no expense to ensure a party for the ages. An all-day street festival culminated in a fireworks display set off from the base of the tower, and at midnight the joyful sound of cheering, rattles and noisemakers from the over 200,000 attendees could be heard, it was said, from as far away as Croton-on-Hudson, thirty miles north along the Hudson River.

The New York Times‘ description of the occasion paints a rapturous picture: “From base to dome the giant structure was alight – a torch to usher in the newborn year…”

The night was such a rousing success that Times Square instantly replaced Lower Manhattan’s Trinity Church as “the” place in New York City to ring in the new year. Before long, this party of parties would capture the imagination of the nation, and the world.

Two years later, the city banned the fireworks display – but Ochs was undaunted. He arranged to have a large, illuminated seven-hundred-pound iron and wood ball lowered from the tower flagpole precisely at midnight to signal the end of 1907 and the beginning of 1908.

On that occassion, and for almost a century thereafter, Times Square signmaker Artkraft Strauss was responsible for the ball-lowering. (For more information on the past and present of the New Year’s Eve Ball itself, please click here.) In 1914, The New York Times outgrew Times Tower and relocated to 229 West 43rd Street. By then, New Year’s Eve in Times Square was already a permanent part of our cultural fabric.

In 1942 and 1943, the glowing Ball was temporarily retired due to the wartime “dimout” of lights in New York City. The crowds who still gathered in Times Square in those years greeted the New Year with a minute of silence followed by chimes ringing out from sound trucks parked at the base of the Times Tower.

The New York Times retained ownership of the Tower until 1961, when it was sold to developer Douglas Leigh, who was also the designer and deal-maker behind many of the spectacular signs in Times Square, including the famous Camel billboard that blew water-vapor “smoke rings” over the street. Mr. Leigh stripped the building down to its steel frame, then re-clad it in white marble as the headquarters for Allied Chemical Corporation.

Today, New Year’s Eve in Times Square is a bona fide international phenomenon. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people still gather around the Tower, now known as One Times Square, and wait for hours in the cold of a New York winter for the famous Ball-lowering ceremony. Thanks to satellite technology, a worldwide audience estimated at over one billion people watches the ceremony each year. The lowering of the Ball has become the world’s symbolic welcome to the New Year.

New Year’s Eve is just a small slice of Time Square’s history. To learn more, check out our Interactive Timeline.”

Top 10 Reasons NYC New Year’s Sucks

Yelena Mandenberg — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:10:07 +0000

You’d think that living in the biggest and most active city in the world would mean we all party our heads off on New Years, but no. Most New Yorkers don’t really do anything for New Years at all, and if they do, it always turns out to be a disappointment. Of course, there are those of us who will be partying and living the dream, but truth be told, most people stay at home or leave the city for this travesty of a holiday, and here are the top 10 reasons why New Years in NYC is overrated:

1) Super Crowded Everywhere – In an attempt to make every New Years less disappointing than the last, New Yorkers head for their favorite bars, restaurants and hangouts – which means that there are easily 500 people trying to get into any place that looks decent on New Years. Oh, and when that happens, service sucks, and food and alcohol and sometimes run out. Not to mention how expensive all the food suddenly becomes…

2) Impossible to get to the store – So many people are driving here, there, and everywhere that you can’t even manage to drive to a store, a friends house, or anywhere.

3) Times Square Full Of More Tourists Than Ever – It’s a known fact that New Yorkers hate silly tourists in Times Square, especially the ones who actually stop and hold up street traffic to stare and take pictures. Well, that is all that happens on New Years. Except to the entire city.

4) Impossible to get on public transportation – It will be crowded, everything will be late, and women: there will be at least 20 drunk guys on every bus that WILL make you uncomfertable.

5) Impossible to get a cab or car service – This is the busiest day of the year for them! And with thousands of people to take home, believe me, they will never get to you. And, they overcharge on New Years. A ride that would normally cost $7, suddenly surges to $25, leaving you broke and/or stranded.

6) Ryan Seacrest now hosts ‘Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve’ – ‘Nuff said.

7) Police everywhere – EVERYWHERE. You can’t get away with anything on New Years, especially not in Manhattan. Well, i’m lying, you CAN get away with plenty, but if the cops notice, you’re screwed.

8) Slightly dangerous to be outside – Mostly because so many people are drunk, and out to pick fights.

9) Everyone’s expectations are way too high – New Year’s eve is supposed to be amazing, new, you have to get kissed, and have fun, etc. But it never goes that way. Which leaves most of us kind of sad the next morning — so remember, that most of the time, plans don’t work out so don’t count on them. This will make your evening much better.

10) It is almost always WAY too cold to do anything – New York City doesn’t usually get TOO cold… except on New Years. The last few years, New Years has been absolutely freezing – making most plans un-do-able.

Fatal Shooting In Times Square

Yelena Mandenberg — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:13:55 +0000

Times Square today, after a shooting between a cop and a street vendor turned deadly

Thursday morning, a police sergeant (wearing plain clothes) had a showdown with a street vendor on 42^nd street, ending with the death of the vendor.

The incident, taking place on New York’s most famous and crowded street, caused quite a commotion and was incredibly public as hundreds of people passed by the scene.

This happened at around 11:15 a.m., when the sergeant, Christopher Newsom, 41, had a confrontation with two men outside of 1515 Broadway, the skyscraper that is between 44^th and 45^th Streets that is most famous for being the setting of the MTV show, “Total Request Live.”

According to the New York Time, sergeant Newsom regularly was assigned to the Midtown South Precinct peddler unit, but switched for the day to help out the anticrime unit that patrols Times Square.

Newsom supposedly recognized two men who were selling CDs to passersby and asked for their vendors’ tax stamp, which they would need to legally sell the CDs in the street.

When asked, one of the vendors, 25-year-old Raymond Martinez of the Bronx, took off running. Sergeant Newsom chased the vendor until they would up at a promenade that leads to the main entrance of the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

Police and detectives were able to see what happened next thanks to the security cameras outside the Marquis.

Apparently, the sergeant yelled at the vendor to stop and put up his hands, but Martinez had a different idea in mind. He pulled out what police found to be a stolen gun out of his coat. Martinez proceeded to shoot twice at the sergeant, who has been on the force for 17 years, until his gun jammed.

In that time, sergeant Newsom had managed to find his weapon, and fired four shots, all of which hit Martinez in the chest, below the neck, and in the left arm. He also had a graze wound in his right arm.

Emergency workers took Martinez to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.

City Offers Free Swine Flu Shot To All, Until Saturday

Yelena Mandenberg — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:10:37 +0000

Swine Flu Vaccine Loses Popularity in New York

Since the hype about swine flu has died down recently, the city has been getting less and less demands for the swine flu vaccine, and is going to stop giving out free shots this Saturday. However, until then, they are inviting everyone – regardless of age or health – to come receive the shot.

These shots are given out at free clinics, which were mainly created so that middle and high school students could receive free medical attention but are now also currently open to accommodate pregnant women, people ages 4 to 24, and people from 25 to 64 who have underlying health problems such as diabetes, asthma, or heart and lung conditions.

In just four weeks, 37,000 New Yorkers were vaccinated at the free clinics. However, last weekend, the demand suddenly fell to just 7,000 people, which is when the city made its decision to pull the vaccine.

Few New Yorkers have actually gotten the vaccine. There were approximately 2 million doses allocated to New York city, but according to the New York Times, fewer than 440,000 New Yorkers have actually been vaccinated, 97,845 of them children.

Times Square Mega Millions Drawing

nyc — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:15:37 +0000

Referred as the largest Lotto cash payout in history, last night’s 390 million dollar lottery drawing was watched across the country as Yolanda Vega called out the winning numbers, 6-22-29-39-42 with a Mega Ball of 20 in Times Square. According to the Mega Millions website, there are two winners, who will split the 390 million dollar. The two winning tickets were from Georgia and from New Jersey. There are actually eight New Yorkers that matched five of the numbers, which means they won $250,000 each. Mega Millions takes place across 12 states, California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington state. The largest previous multistate lottery jackpot was $365 million in 2006, when eight workers at a Nebraska meat processing plant hit the Powerball lotto.