New York City<\/a> is clearly the place to be \u2013 as thousands head to Times Square to watch the world-famous New Year\u2019s Eve Ball descend from the flagpole atop One Times Square at midnight.<\/p>\nWhile more than 100 million television viewers in the United States will watch the ball drop, the revelers who watch it LIVE will have a real story to tell.\u00a0 Grab a flight now \u2013 while airfare is affordable and hotel rooms aren\u2019t sold out.\u00a0 One of my favorite Times Square hotels is the Westin, Times Square.\u00a0 No matter how loud and crazy the streets are below, the hotel is a calm retreat.<\/p>\n
\n
The 11, 875-pound ball, covered in 2,668 Waterford crystals, has been on display since Jan. 1, 2009, and is a year-round attraction for visitors from around the world.<\/p>\n
\nThe schedule for the New Year\u2019s Eve festivities is as follows:<\/p>\n
4pm<\/u><\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe Revelers<\/strong><\/p>\nRevelers start arriving late in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve. By approximately 4pm, the \u201cbow tie\u201d of Times Square (42nd\u201347th Streets, between Broadway and Seventh Avenue) becomes a focal point for the festivities. The NYPD will direct revelers to gather in separate viewing sections. As one section fills up, police will direct new arrivals to the next section.<\/p>\n
\n
6\u20136:03 pm<\/u><\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nLighting and Raising the Times Square New Year\u2019s Eve Ball
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
The celebration begins with the lighting and raising of the New Year\u2019s Eve Ball atop One Times Square.<\/p>\n
\n
11:59pm<\/strong><\/u>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe 60-Second Countdown
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Times Square 2010 special guest (to be announced) will push the Waterford crystal button that signals the descent of the New Year\u2019s Eve Ball.<\/p>\n
\n
Midnight<\/u><\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n2010 Sign<\/strong><\/p>\nAt the stroke of midnight, the lights on the New Year\u2019s Eve Ball are turned off as the numerals \u201c2010\u201d are illuminated high above Times Square.
\nThe \u201cConfetti Wishing Wall\u201d wish papers become part of the confetti that rains down on the city.\u00a0 This is a great way to involve kids in the celebration \u2013 whether you get to visit or not. (Note: specific dates of Confetti Wishing Wall to be posted at timessquarenyc.org)<\/p>\n
For more information about visiting New York City, check out the City\u2019s official tourism website at nycgo.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\nPicture courtesy of Countdown Entertainmnet<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 3…2…1…Happy New Year! Before you know it, holiday cards will be out, presents will be unwrapped and New Year\u2019s Eve will be here.\u00a0 If one of your resolutions is to get away or have more fun, start planning your celebration now.\u00a0 New York City is clearly the place to be \u2013 as thousands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97168033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-interests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97168033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97168033"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97168033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97204603,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97168033\/revisions\/97204603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97168033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97168033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97168033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}