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A-BALL IN TIME AGAIN

December 29th, 2008
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New Year’s Eve was first celebrated in Times Square in 1904. The commemoration marked the official opening of The New York Times‘ new headquarters at the triangular intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street. Manhattan‘s second-tallest building at the time, the Times Tower rose on the small spot of land overlooking the Square newly named after the newspaper.

An unprecedented celebration unfolded on that distant New Year’s Eve. Adolph Ochs (the then publisher of the paper) “spared no expense to ensure a party for the ages.” Fireworks, rattles and noisemakers from over 200,000 attendees were the culmination of an entire day of street festivals.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 crowds at Trinity Church, then the setting for New Year’s Eve celebrations, instantly found their way uptown to a new and (down to the present day) more dynamic setting at Times Square; of course, it all became bigger and more high-tech over the years.

(By the way, this year’s ball looks suspiciously like last year’s ball…but the years are passing by so quickly that it all looks like one big, blurry Ball of Confusion anyway; one ball–or strike or home run, for that matter–is just as good as any other ball.)

check out the “History of New Year’s Eve in Times Square” at the Times Square Alliance.

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2 Responses to “A-BALL IN TIME AGAIN”

  1. Convert
    December 30th, 2008 - 10:58 pm

    They showed very similar ball on our TV here this morning. As soon as I started to focus the news ended. I don’t know where it was suppose to be, in which city, but it’ll be placed right on the top of a city hall and will stay there whole year. Happy New Caledar Year 2009

  2. GrayFoxDown
    December 31st, 2008 - 1:54 pm

    Happy New Year to you as well, Convert. In the end, if you’ve seen one Ball you’ve seen them all…but they continue to fascinate me.

    Thanks for the response and All the Best for 2009!!!

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