Uniquely NYC
New Year's Eve Ball Drop
The actual idea of ball "dropping" to signal the passage of time dates
back to long before the New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square. The
first "time ball" was installed atop England's Royal Observatory in
Greenwich in 1833. This ball would drop precisely at one o'clock in the
afternoon allowing the captains of nearby ships to set their
chronometers to exact time. The idea became a success and eventually
around 150 public time-balls were installed around the world, although
few survive and work nowadays. The tradition continues today in places
like the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, where a time
ball descends daily from a flagpole at noon; and of course, once a year
in Times Square, as millions of people worldwide bid farewell to the old
year and welcome the new one with hopes and joy.
New Year's Eve has been celebrated in Times Square since 1904, when the
owner of The New York Times, Alfred Ochs, threw an inaugural bash for
the Times Tower, his paper's new headquarters. The building became the
focal point of an unprecedented New Year's Eve celebration. An all day
street festival ended with spectacular fireworks set from of the tower.
The celebration was such a huge success that it instantly replaced the
Trinity Church as the ultimate spot in the city for ringing in the New
Year.
The New Year's Eve Ball made its first appearance in 1907. It was a 700
pound iron and wood construction that had a five foot diameter and was
decorated with one hundred 25-watt light bulbs. The ball was built by a
young immigrant metalworker, Jacob Starr, and for most of the twentieth
century his company, Artkraft Strauss, was in charge of lowering the
ball. In 1920, the original ball was replaced with a newer, lighter
version - a 400 pound creation made entirely of wrought iron.
The ball has been lowered every year since 1907, except 1942 and 1943,
when the ceremony was suspended due to wartime lighting restrictions.
The crowds still gathered in Times Square in those years and greeted the
New Year with a minute of silence followed by the ringing of chimes from
sound trucks parked at the base of the Times Tower -; a reminiscence of
the earlier, pre-Times Square celebrations at Trinity Church.
In 1955, an aluminum ball weighing a mere 200 pounds replaced the old
iron version. It remained that way until the 1980s, when "I Love New
York" marketing converted it into an apple by the addition of green stem
and red light bulbs. After seven years the traditional white glowing
ball was restored. In 1995 it was furnished with aluminum skin,
rhinestones, strobes and computer controls.
For the Times Square 2000 millennium celebration, the ball was
redesigned entirely by Waterford Crystal. The ball was a geodesic
sphere, six feet in diameter and weighed 1,070 pounds. It was covered
with 504 Waterford Crystal triangles. The ball was equipped with
computer controlled 696 lights and 90 rotating pyramid mirrors, that
produced a magnificent, kaleidoscope color effect.
To honor the Ball Drop's centennial anniversary, a new design debuted
for New Year's Eve 2008. The ball was used only once and then put on
display at the Times Square Visitors Center. In November 2009, the
latest version of the ball by Waterford Crystal was unveiled. It is
twice the size of its predecessor and weighs approximately 11,875
pounds. Covered with 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by 32,256
Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS, the new Ball is capable of creating a palette
of 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns producing a
spectacular kaleidoscope effect. Organizers also announced that the new
ball will become a attraction perched atop One Times Square year-round.