Times Square NYE Ball Drop

Count down to 2010 with the annual Times Square ball drop. Nothing compares to the exhilaration of watching it live, plus you can catch music and other performances before and after the midnight hour. Get there early to snag a great spot!

Each and every year, millions of eyes from all over the world are focused on the sparkling Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball. At 11:59 p.m., the Ball begins its descent as millions of voices unite to count down the final seconds of the year, and celebrate the beginning of a new year full of hopes, challenges, changes and dreams.

The notion of a ball “dropping” to signal the passage of time dates back long before New Year’s Eve was ever celebrated in Times Square. The first “time-ball” was installed atop England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833. This ball would drop at one o’clock every afternoon, allowing captains of nearby ships to precisely set their chronometers.

New Years revelers began celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year’s Eve Ball made its first descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square.

In 1920, a 400 pound ball made entirely of wrought iron replaced the original. In 1955, the iron ball was replaced with an aluminum ball weighing 200 pounds less. This aluminum Ball remained unchanged until the 1980s, when red light bulbs and the addition of a green stem converted the Ball into an apple for the “I Love New York” marketing campaign from 1981 until 1988 when the traditional glowing white Ball with white light bulbs and without the green stem returned to brightly light the sky above Times Square. In 1995, the Ball was upgraded with aluminum skin, rhinestones, strobes, and computer controls, but the aluminum ball was lowered for the last time in 1998.

The millennium celebration at the Crossroads of the World, the New Year’s Eve Ball was completely redesigned by Waterford Crystal. The new crystal Ball combined the latest in technology with the most traditional of materials, reminding us of our past as we gazed into the future and the beginning of a new millenium.

Times Square Crossroad of the world New Years Eve, New York New York

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One Response to “Times Square NYE Ball Drop”

1. drop ball says:

   March 31, 2010 at 6:43 pm

   [...] happily without … erect, hold the ball at shoulder height and arms length and then drop. …Times Square NYE Ball Drop | Manhattan StyleEach and every year, millions of eyes from all over the world are focused on the sparkling Waterford [...]