Tag: Times Square

Times Square at year’s end

Published on by juliebrannanLeave a comment

I didn’t grow up in New York City, and like so many others, when I was a child seeing the ball drop in Times Square on television was a normal part of my routine as one year passed into the next. I have now been fortunate enough to live in NYC for over 30 years now, for many of them just a few blocks from Times Square itself. Have I ever waited all day in Times Square to see the ball drop live on New Year’s Eve? No, I have not! But due to the pandemic I was able to get quite close to the ball as it dropped in 2020 without waiting, and there are many other events in Times Square at the end of each year that have now become a regular part of how I process the year past, and anticipate the year to come. Here’s my take on how you can be a part of the Times Square NYE celebration, with even a few ways to participate if you aren’t in the city.

My favorite year-end event in Times Square is the arrival of the numerals that will replace the previous year’s numbers. They sit on the ground in Times Square for just a few days, and you can take your photo with them. You can find out when they will be available each year on the official Times Square website, but they are generally there for four or five days, and around the middle of the month (for 2024, they were there December 18-22). You might have to wait a bit for your turn at a photo, but if you can be there earlier in the day the area is much less crowded.

I think this is a relatively recent event, and the first year I remember seeing it (2018, to see the 2019 numbers) they only had the last two digits there (see above). Now the full year is on display for these few days.

Another activity in Times Square that I really love is the New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall. For most of the month of December (for 2024, December 2-29) you can write wishes on little slips of tissue paper, and they are saved to throw among all the confetti (over one ton is dropped!) that is released at midnight on New Year’s Eve onto Times Square. I find this to be a wonderful way to crystallize my hopes as I enter a new year. This is fun to do in person, of course, but the Times Square Website also allows you to type in wishes from anywhere and they will also be part of the confetti (find it here).

Another fun event is Good Riddance Day (usually December 28, but you can check the Times Square Instagram each year to confirm). More or less in opposition to the cheerful Wishing Wall (haha), for this you write down things you want to leave behind in 2024 and not take with you to the new year. And they shred or even BURN THEM for you . . . good riddance!

No guarantees that they will do this every year, but in 2024 on December 19 you could swap out old crystals on the actual Times Square ball for new ones, and you could keep the old crystal as a keepsake. Lines were long, but hey, at least the Naked Cowboy was there for entertainment.

The big event of course is the actual ball drop on New Year’s Eve. The area around Times Square becomes entirely blocked off earlier in the day and everyone who enters this area (roughly 40th to 59th Streets, from Sixth to Eighth Avenues) goes through airport-style security. If you are interested in going, all your questions can be answered in the FAQ section of the official Times Square website, but I will answer the most important question here: no, there are no bathroom facilities. During the height of the covid pandemic in 2020, only a few blocks were cordoned off and there was no official viewing area. That year I was able to get just a few blocks away, and with no wait, and I saw the actual ball drop from a few blocks away on 50th and Broadway.

I enjoy going to Times Square the morning of New Year’s Day. It’s eerily quiet, and although the clean up is fast and efficient, you can still see remnants of the confetti drop the night before. I know it’s not cool to like Times Square, and there are certainly times I try to avoid it. But that little girl inside of me who looked longingly at the ball drop on television is still there, on some level, and I love that I have been able to find a way to make the reality of Times Square a part of my end-of-year routine.

Rise New York

Published on by juliebrannanLeave a comment

Have you ever been on the Disney ride “Soarin'”? It started out as “Soarin’ over California” at Disneyland’s California Adventure Park, and then a duplicate was installed at Disney World in Florida. You sit in a large device that simulates the experience of hang gliding while watching a large-format screen, originally showing scenes of different places in California, synching the visuals, movement, and even scents to create a sensory experience that I quite enjoy. (The visuals have been changed to fit the concept of soaring over the world, and now the ride in both American parks simulates flying over the Taj Mahal, an island in Fiji, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Great Wall of China, etc. There are also different versions of the ride now in Disney Parks in Tokyo and Shanghai which I have not yet experienced, but I digress . . .) Why am I discussing this Disney ride on a blog primarily about NYC? The answer is because there is a new venue in the Times Square area that culminates in what I can only accurately describe as “Soarin’ over New York City.” Well, of course I had to try it, and here is what I experienced.

Rise NY is located at 160 W 45th St, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, and is open every day beginning at 10 AM, until 8PM on most nights but until 9PM on Fridays and Saturdays. There are timed tickets available in advance, and walk-up tickets subject to availability. Although I went primarily for the ride, I was interested in the walk through history of New York, with a focus on Times Square, that was more extensive than I had guessed in advance.

After a simulated subway ride with introductory video, you walk through the initial history of the city and then through exhibits related to specific themes.

I hadn’t fully appreciated the importance of the development of the elevator brake to the development of Manhattan as we now know it, with skyscrapers, but it makes a lot of sense!

After an interesting display about the skyline, the next exhibit related to the entertainment industry, specifically television.

Given my own special interest in Broadway, I really enjoyed seeing the room devoted to its importance to NYC, with costumes and videos.

There were also areas devoted to the iconic Beatles performance at the Ed Sullivan show, the music scene including the Village People, and NYC in the movies (all video so I didn’t take photos).

After all these displays, the set-up for “Soarin’ over NYC” (OK, not its actual name but I can’t seem to think of it as anything else!). You go back in time to see the ball drop in Times Square in 1958 (although the ball has been dropped there since 1907, these were the early days of it being televised nationally).

Entering “Sky Studio,” we find ourselves in the same kind of simulator used for “Soarin'” with our items stowed – so once I had done that, I had no more photos of the experience.

Basically in the film accompanying the simulation, we are first watching the ball drop in the past. But a storm is coming! Lightning hits our perch and – wait for it – we travel forward in time and soar among the skyscrapers and icons of New York City. It’s fun, no doubt about it, if over in only a few minutes.

Is it worth going if you live here? I say yes but then again, I do everything! I learned a few things in the exhibit, and truly enjoyed the ride portion even if it is short. The price for this varies depending on the date, time, and whether you get VIP tickets (really just a “jump the line” pass), but count on about $30 for an adult with no discounts in 2022. This would be a fun thing to take visitors to when they come to NYC – you can do it all in about an hour, and it’s near Broadway theaters so you could fit it in before or after taking your guests to a show. And if you aren’t a New Yorker, I think this would be an enjoyable addition to a trip to NYC (just don’t forget to check out one of the observatories in the city, like Summit at One Vanderbilt, or the Edge at Hudson Yards). And if you are consumed with wondering what it would be like to hang glide over New York City, I am confident that this is a much more enjoyable – and safer! – alternative.

Times Square into Hell’s Kitchen

Published on by juliebrannan2 Comments

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My previous blog posts about taking unplanned walks in an urban environment (a dérive) have all centered around the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As Monty Python would say, “And now, for something completely different!”  This dérive will begin in what is perhaps the area of Manhattan that residents love to hate, Times Square, and will end in colorfully named Hell’s Kitchen.

I understand a resident’s tendency to avoid Times Square at all costs. Several times I have had a Broadway show to go to and fought through throngs of tourists looking up as I tried to move with a purpose toward a theatre. All too often, however, I think we overlook some aspects of NYC because they are familiar, and occasionally it’s good to step back and take a fresh look at some old clichéd parts of the city. I remember a time years ago when I was waiting for a light to change in midtown along with a crowd of other jaded preoccupied New Yorkers, and a car drove by with people literally hanging out the windows and exclaiming “WOW!” while snapping pictures. We all looked up to see what they were looking at and realized we were right under the Empire State Building, but oblivious to its grandeur.

For a dérive beginning in Times Square, pick a less crowded time (not thirty minutes before curtain, and definitely not on dreaded New Year’s Eve), emerge from the subway (you have a multitude to choose from) and for a moment really look at it – despite what you think, you are not too cool to realize the power and excitement of Times Square. Named because the New York Times once occupied the building that now hosts the infamous New Year’s Eve ball drop and formed by the intersection of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, 42nd Street, and 47th Street, this loud, blinding jumble of neon and giant screens is the world’s most visited tourist attraction, and gateway to the fabulous Broadway theatre district. Call it “Crossroads of the World,” “The Center of the Universe,” or “The Great White Way,” it is undeniably impressive. While there, if you spot someone taking someone’s picture (and you will), offer to take a photo of them together. I often do this and end up feeling better about myself as an ambassador for the city, fighting the unfair stereotype of rude New Yorkers.

Heading west on 44th Street, you pass Sardi’s, home of the famed theatre caricatures, on the south side of the street between Broadway and Eighth Avenues. The Tony Award was born at Sardi’s – after Antoinette Perry’s death, her partner thought up an award in her honor while having lunch here, and the restaurant itself was given a special award in 1947, the first year of the Tonys. Walking along 44th Street, you appreciate the compactness of the Broadway theatre district; unlike London’s West End, where shows are scattered over a large area, most Broadway shows are within  a relatively small area at most a few blocks from Times Square.

Crossing Eighth Avenue heading west, you have entered Hell’s Kitchen (roughly 34th Street to 59th Street, and Eighth Avenue to the Hudson River). Although there has been some interest in renaming it Clinton or even the generic Midtown West, I personally think that telling people you live in Hell’s Kitchen would be impressive! Although the area was once a bit gritty, it has been gentrifying and after rezoning in the past decade removed the restriction on buildings higher than six stories, several gleaming new condo towers now dot the neighborhood. Consider some of these “Chelsea North” – the style and views of the new Chelsea buildings at a slightly lower price. Walking north on Eighth Avenue, the advantages to this neighborhood are clear: Broadway theatres conveniently scattered to the east (imagine how easy it would be to pop over to the Eugene O’Neill to try the Book of Mormon lottery; with enough chances, you might eventually win front row seats for $32!), restaurants to the west (of particular note is Restaurant Row on 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues with about 40 places to eat on this block alone), and an undeniable sense of place.

 The amazing thing about New York City is that each neighborhood has its own personality and character. Hell’s Kitchen is certainly for those who like to be near the action, but also many of the side streets west of Ninth Avenue are surprisingly quiet and tree lined.  On some of these blocks you would feel far removed from the bright lights and clogged intersections of Times Square, and yet it is there for you to curse, or embrace while taking photos for grateful tourists, whenever you want.