Luckily, we found out that if you get to the Square in the early to mid afternoon, you should be good. So, we headed to Times Square around 1:00 via the D train. Upon arrival, we were quickly greeted by a mob of cops ready to take their posts. It was quite the scene. We grabbed a bite (pretzel) from a vendor, made a last bathroom stop of 2012, and proceeded to find our way into the Square.
Revelers, as we/they are called, are directed to gather in 7th Ave. But, you need to go through two security check points before entering 7th Ave. This took longer and was more complicated than expected. There were tons of people trying to figure out where to go, but no one knew anything about where to go. It was surprisingly not chaotic, but completely disorganized. In the 100+ years this thing has been going on, one would think there would be some kind of process or plan. Not the case. When we'd approach one barricade, we would need to wait to get to the front of the line, only to be informed that we were not the right people for that barricade (i.e. not wounded veterans, not staying at the Marriott, etc.) [Side bar: You would think, in a city of a ga-billion people, someone would know something, but in the short time that I've been here, that too is not the case. I'm beginning to think that because there are so many people and the space is so expansive, there's just too much to know. End side bar.]
Due to our affiliation with a local music venue, we were able to pass the 8th Ave. barricade. We were quickly rejected at one entrance point (I think due to a full quadrant. The Square is filled in quadrants. Once one quadrant is filled, it is barricaded off and no one can enter that section of the Square after that). After navigating through the Marriott and taking in some Broadway theatres, we took a stop at a near-by Starbucks. We then saw a line forming on 45th St. and it was filling in fast, so out of Starbucks we went and staked our claim in that line:
People were slowly being allowed to enter the Square, so we passed the time by chatting with our neighbors and fellow revelers. One intelligent man brought small folding chairs. (Jealsy). One family had waited 3 hours at another Square entrance only to get to the front of the line and be turned away. I hoped that they were able to enter after all of that!
I was surprised to see how many families there were, especially ones with small children and strollers. I was also surprised to hear more non-English than English conversations. This is truly a global event! I was thirdly surprised to learn that this was everyone's who we talked to first Times Square NYE experience. I have a feeling that many people don't go back for round two!
We made it onto the Square and were wanded and patted down before taking our place among the other million+ folks around us:
We got great spots, as we were between 400 and 800 meters from 1 Times Square, the building from which the ball drops. We arrived at those spots around 4:30 and settled in. We were so lucky that the weather was great. It stayed right around 38 degrees the whole night. It helped that I was wearing 1 thin spandex long sleeve, 1 fleece-lined long sleeve, 1 fleece-lined hoodie, 1 U of MN sweatshirt (from Laura!), 2 pairs of Smart wool socks, 1 pair of fleece-lined spandex pants, jeans, Ledger muffler, scarf, my favorite MN hat, and mittens. I'd definitely suggest all of that at the minimum. I don't know how some girls did it with leggings and skirts, but my fuzzy winter hat goes off to them!
The in-person experience is pretty different than what I imagined from what I had gathered on TV in previous years. I had assumed this was going to be one big party, and it was, but it was a pretty quiet party! L and I were able to have a normal conversation sitting in 7th Ave. listening and feeling the rumble of the subway underneath. It also wasn't as packed as I thought it might be. I was able to stand, sit, lie, eat, etc. quite comfortably. Some even found this a prime opportunity to catch up on the news:
Things started to pick up at 6:00 p.m. when the ball was raised and lit:
With each passing hour, we counted down to 2013 in various countries:
That was cool. It was so fun to hear the crowd get louder and louder as the hours got closer to midnight. I think that was my favorite part.
Performers included: Cassadee Pope, Neon Trees, Carly Rae Jepsen, Train, and Taylor Swift:
The last hour flew by. Soon, there were only 5 minutes to go:
And then the count down was on:
And then....2013 was here!!
We had such a great time ringing in the new year! It was so fun to get texts throughout the night and hearing so many interesting stories was amazing. For example, we met one woman whose birthday is January 1 and she had lived in NY for many years but had never attended a NYE in Times Square. She is currently living in Texas and was in NY visiting. She wasn't going to come to Times Square, but decided that because of her birthday, she should. She arrived at 11:30 p.m., showed her ID to the cops to prove it was her birthday and they allowed her in to celebrate and watch the ball drop. She was so ecstatic to be there.
It was a great beginning to what is sure to be a fabulous year! Here's to a happy and healthy New Year!
No comments:
Post a Comment