Walking past Madison Square Garden, which is next to Penn Station.
Big colourful billboards, Macy's flagship store, Tim Hortons!?!...all the photos in the world could never have prepared me for this. If you've never been to NYC, you can imagine the shock to the senses I experienced, and if you have, then you probably completely understand.
Luckily I checked online the night before to see which subway line I needed to take to the hotel I was staying at, otherwise I would've had a much harder time trying to figure out where I needed to go. Imagine my surprise when I received these $1 coins as change to my a subway ticket from the booth operator! I never knew the US had $1 coins (I always thought it was just bills), and even thought they might be fake before I used them in the ticket vending machine hahaha. I later found out the government has actually been trying to faze them out for quite a while now but their popularity for use on public transportation has continued to keep them in circulation.
I caught the BDFV line up to Rockefeller Center, because believe it or not, I was staying at the 4 star Rockefeller Center Hotel! I really couldn't afford it, but I didn't book my accommodation early enough, and since it was New Year's Eve, all the safe hostels were already completely booked up, and the only remaining rooms were all jacked up in price (well over $100 USD per night). So I figured since it was New Year's Eve and my first time in NYC, I'd splurge a bit and stay at a hotel for the first 3 nights where I could really relax and enjoy myself - thank you Hotwire.com!
The area around the hotel: Rockefeller Plaza (and the big Christmas tree!), NBC Studios, Radio City Music Hall...I couldn't ask for a better location to stay in NYC! I took the photos as I tried to find the hotel - I had a bit of trouble finding it at first because it's a small, private hotel (and Google Maps got its location wrong). It doesn't really stand out from the surrounding buildings, which is what made it so hard to spot.
I was very impressed with the room - the perfect start to NYC.
The view from my room: St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rockefeller Plaza!
After settling in for a bit, I grabbed my DSLR camera and headed back out for some sightseeing - can't waste a minute! I can honestly say I was so happy to be here that even the grey clouds couldn't bring me down this time.
Exploring the neighbouring Rockefeller Center area. Luckily there was no snow! The big attraction this time of year being the gigantic Christmas tree - Christmas may have been over, but it certainly didn't feel like it! I knew the tree was huge, but it looked so much bigger in-person. I'll say it again, I honestly couldn't have asked for a better place to start off my trip in NYC; it was well worth every hard-earned penny.
After grabbing a quick meal at the food court in the Rockefeller Center tower, I headed back to my room to rest my feet for a bit before I decided to head out again - I had a feeling I wouldn't get a chance to rest them for a while at my next destination: Times Square! That's right, I was planning to join the huge crowds at Times Square of the New Year's Eve celebration! Again, the hotel's awesome location comes up - it was relatively very close to Times Square. So at around 4 PM, I headed back out onto the streets and made my way towards Times Square (you have to get there really early to get a good spot to see the ball drop). I honestly had no real idea where I was supposed to go - I figured I'd just show up in the area first and see where I had to go from there.
Making my way to Times Square. I wandered down to W 48th St. from the hotel's location at W 51st St., and then cut my way across to 7th Ave.
I've arrived at Times Square!
I think it goes without saying that if I was in awe when I stepped out of Penn Station that I was completely mesmerized when I got to Times Square. All the bright colours, the big signs, the crowds of people, the loud city buzz...amazing! I still couldn't help but grin like an idiot haha!
W 48th St. was pretty far back from the ball drop, so I joined the crowd trying to get a closer spot (obviously all the closer spots were already filled up). This is where I got really lucky. I had no clue what was going on, I was just trying to move forward along with the rest of the crowd packing the sidewalk - there was so much pushing it actually took no effort for me to keep up with the crowd hahaha. As I got closer to W 46th St., I could see the pen south of W 46th St. was already filling up fast and yet the crowd kept moving south, meaning I'd get a really bad spot if I kept going with the crowd. Then the crowd slowed down to almost no movement, and then all of a sudden, I heard the police were opening up the entrance to the pen just north of W 46th St. directly to the right of me (with a few people between me and the barricade)! So within minutes, after a lot of people shoving one another and then a quick body check at the entrance point, I was one of the first few in the pen! I was really surprised how quickly I had gotten in after I had heard about how long it could take with the huge crowds.
The view from my spot. I was standing just behind a group of girls from the inner barricades (closest to the stage) - in hindsight, I probably should have taken a spot next to them along the barricade and end up a bit farther north from the ball drop, but I wanted to get as close a spot as possible at the time. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect spot considering the circumstances - right in front of the performance stage and a perfect unhindered view of where the ball drop would take place. It's quite obvious in the photos just how many people were waiting, which is why I was so surprised I managed to get a spot so quickly after arriving at Times Square. The last photo is of 2 people that hopped the barricades, hoping the police wouldn't notice, but everyone waiting made such a stir (well obviously!) that the police saw them after they hopped the barricade and escorted them back into the crowds hahaha.
The sun starting to set, the crowds packed in...I thought the hard part was getting a good spot, until I realized after getting in that I had to stand there for the next 8 hours with nothing to do!
Filming the crowd. Like I said, my spot was really good because we got a lot of camera attention (especially because of the group of girls, 4 sisters, who were in front of me, all wearing flashy New Year's Eve stuff like glasses in the shape of "2010") - it's a shame I couldn't call to anyone to see if I was on TV hahaha.
Passing time by taking a photo of myself haha.
As the night drew on, people from the nearby restaurants came out selling food at ridiculously marked up prices, for a reason - once you got into a pen, if you decided to leave, you couldn't get back in, meaning no bathroom breaks or food runs. This guy was selling small pizzas at $20 USD each! A girl from McD's who came by later on was taking orders, at prices doubled to what they usually are. Luckily, I came prepared, and I brought 2 bottles of water (free, thanks to the awesome Rockefeller Center Hotel!) and a bag of chocolate covered peanuts for dinner that I had picked up earlier at a drug store - I figured the sugar and high protein would give me plenty of energy for the night and I was right (I didn't even finish half the bag since I was drinking very little water to prevent having to pee).
The huge American Eagle billboard across from me kept me entertained for a while hahaha.
The sun had set, and there was still plenty of hours of waiting left.
Handing out some freebies - our section never got any of these balloon things until just before the countdown, and only a few people got them.
One of the several live performances of the night, trying to keep the crowd entertained (though in all honesty, it was a pretty poor effort). No one knew who this singer was; there were a lot of performances by nobodies - like I said, poor effort by the organizing body (everyone else said the same thing). The view of the stage from my spot wasn't exactly the best, especially since all the equipment they set up as the night went on blocked more of my view (which is why I said it probably would've been better if I took a spot a metre farther away from the ball drop), so the giant screens at the front gave the best views (check the 2 Toshiba screens in the 1st photo).
Nick Lachey and his girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo walking by on the way to the Nivea stage set up just south of W 46th St.; the girls in front of me were really young (I was surprised they were out here with no adult supervision) and thus really short so I got a pretty good unobstructed view of the people passing by.
A group of lucky VIP revelers (I'm assuming VIP since anyone who walked passed us in the centre area was either a VIP or a worker). We didn't get those freebie hats until later on in the night either!
Another news reporter interviewing someone (that's the Nivea stage in the background). The guy in front of me was one of the few who managed to convince a passing worker to give him a hat before the rest of us got one.
The countdown already? I wish - it was the raising of the huge crystal ball!
Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo were the MCs for most of the night.
Finally, a top hat!
Yet another performance by a nobody.
The cast of Rent practicing their performance for later that night. I learned as the night went on that the majority of what goes on in Times Square is put on for the people sitting in their warm homes, watching the celebration on TV, which is completely unfair to the over 1 million people who stand out in the cold winter weather for many hours in Times Square.
Yet another interview, this time of the sisters in front of me. Like I said before, they got a lot of attention because of what they were wearing. And I actually ended up in the shot for the story they did!
This is the video I found online on the local FOX network's site which shows footage from my section. It's actually the only news video I can find online of the New Year's Eve celebration at Times Square that showed my section (despite all the cameras that we screamed for during the night - PBS, CBS, NBC, CNN, and FOX all filmed my section!). You can't fully see me in the video - you can see me mouth at the top right corner of the screen for the first second, and my black jacket at about 5 seconds into the video...my brief but not really 1 second of fame hahaha. You can see in the video the New Year's celebration stuff the 4 sisters were wearing that kept attracting all the cameramen to them.
4 hours to go! We did a countdown every hour after the ball went up to mark each approaching hour to midnight, with accompanying mini firework displays.
More reporters settings up for stories near my section; like I said, my section was visited by a lot of camera crews.
Jennifer Lopez warming up for her performance later on in the night (again, not the best angle for the stage - only VIPs had direct views of the stage)!
3 hours to go!
The rain/wet snow started to come down, as if standing around in one spot for 8 hours in a row in cold weather wasn't hard enough already! Luckily my big top hat kept my head dry, but I couldn't say the same for my DSLR.
Papa John's pulling an advertising stunt - dropping flyers (with lousy coupons) from the surrounding buildings similar to the confetti drop at midnight.
Free live performance by the band Daughtry.
The banging of the blue balloons now in full swing...they actually got to be quite annoying because a few people nearby who didn't seem to have any sense of personal space kept poking me and others in the head with them for the rest of the night.
1 hour to go! (I know it's hard to read the text on the big screen since I downsized the photos to put online.)
A marriage proposal by a couple after they finished a kissing contest on the Nivea stage.
The streamers pop out (I don't remember why haha)!
A few of the ladies from the USO putting on a short performance paying tribute to the various arms of the American armed forces, with the typical American flare.
Now all dressed up, Jennifer Lopez performing live from Times Square (despite the continuing wet snow/freezing rain). Like I said before, the best views were available sitting comfortably at home in front of the TV. I tried to get a good shot of her performing, but she was moving around too fast and various stage objects obstructed a lot of the view.
It was pretty close to midnight at this point, and almost everyone was waiting for the widely-rumoured live performance of NY native Jay-Z performing his smash hit Empire State of Mind. We all began tit became more and more unlikely, but everyone kept on hoping. And then one of the MCs announced "the performance you've all been waiting for all night," and everyone started cheering in anticipation that it would be Jay-Z...and then she actually announced it was Jay-Z's Empire State of Mind and everyone went ecstatic!...until she finished off saying it was his music video...I think you can imagine the major sense of disappointment that fell over all of Times Square hahaha. I was definitely disappointed (some people were actually pissed off he wasn't performing), but as soon as the video started playing on the big screen in Times Square, everyone starting singing along anyway...what an appropriate song for such a celebration and perfect timing for me to visit NY!
One minute left!
...9...
...8...
...7...
...6...
...5...
...4...
...3...
...2...
...1...
Happy New Year!!! I know most of the photos are very blurry - I was trying to capture as much as I could, but there was so much going on around me, I was moving the camera too quickly for the shutter speed to keep up. After 8 long hours of standing around doing mostly nothing, it was incredible to see and hear the sudden eruption of celebration and joy. Loads of confetti falling from the sky, (probably) hundreds of fireworks going off illuminating the night sky, everybody (of course including the cops) cheering...it was an amazing experience. For one brief moment, nobody was worrying about security or strangers or any problems in their life - everyone on the streets in harmony; it was just pure celebration with your fellow man.
After the initial celebration after the countdown, I knew my photos would come out blurry with how fast I was moving the camera, so I knew I had to retake some shots to get some in focus. Obviously, I wasn't the only one trying to capture the moment (1st photo); I sure was glad I wasn't using my compact camera hahaha.
Of course I had to take one of myself!
More shots of the celebration (keep in mind this is only a handful of how many I actually took), with the big billboards wishing everyone a happy new year. Looking out into the crowd in front, it was like a blue Nivea-sponsored sea hahaha. And even after a couple of minutes after midnight, the confetti continued to fall from the sky.
Perfect!
Everyone was hugging each other, despite being complete strangers; so even if you were there alone, you weren't really alone!
The other big billboard tower, behind me, also wishing a happy new year.
An unobstructed view (no smoke in the way).
At the same time all this was going on, there was the annual New Year's Eve celebration going on at Central Park just north of Times Square. I didn't expect to get a chance to catch a glimpse of the great fireworks show!
One more of me in Times Square!
The mix of garbage and confetti now littering the streets - I'd really hate to be part of that clean up crew, and kudos to them for pulling off such a quick clean up (there was barely anything on the streets the next day except for some confetti here and there lining the gutters).
One more view of Times Square before I started to leave with the rest of the crowds. It was so strange to see - almost as quickly as the streets had filled up earlier in the day, the crowds began to clear out only several minutes after the countdown, piling into the streets leading out of Times Square.
If you can't clearly see the photo, it's of a guy I passed by who's sitting on the steps to a building with his head hanging down between his thighs. There was some puke on the steps under him - what a terrible moment to over-drink! I don't understand why anyone would do something like that before the countdown...at least pace yourself so that you get sick after the countdown!
Having eaten nothing all night except for chocolate covered peanuts, I joined the lines for a street sausage. It was expensive: $4 (USD) and it wasn't even that big! And all they had was ketchup and mustard. I thought it was just a nighttime thing (like how the hot dogs are at carts after a night of clubbing in Toronto), but I would later find out my assumption was very wrong (more on this in a later post).
I don't know how other people could manage it (I overheard a lot of chatter from groups of people making plans to go to some nearby bars and clubs), but after leaving Times Square, I headed straight back for the hotel (the hot dog cart was along the way). Like I posted back on Jan. 1, my body was just exhausted even though my mind was still craving some partying. Standing around in the cold (and then wet) weather for 8 hours straight, barely drinking any water, eating nothing but chocolate covered peanuts (which obviously just made me even thirstier) and having eaten a light lunch earlier (eating in Manhattan is expensive), I was so happy when I got back to the hotel room to finally get out of my coat, take off my shoes, and just plop onto the very comfy queen-size bed and have a chance to relax my legs. Even with the TV and all the lights still on, after a while, I couldn't help but drift off to sleep.
It may not seem like it, but celebrating in Times Square is really a test of endurance - having to deal with your feet getting cold (mine did, despite moving my legs a lot during the last couple of hours to try to get some blood moving around), decreasing blood flow to the legs since they remain stationary for so long, having to hold in your urine or deal with dehydration (I surprisingly never had the urge to pee since I kept drinking water to a minimum, so I actually dealt more with dehydration, and ended up guzzling down several bottles worth of water back at the hotel), dealing with hunger and boredom...but it's all worth it in the end, even if the celebration only lasts for a few minutes.
A lot of people who have done it say they were glad they did it once, but is something they would never do a second time. I actually would do it again, with other people though for the different experience of celebrating it with friends. Honestly, I never thought in a million years that I would ever be celebrating New Year's Eve in Times Square! When I first arrived at Times Square earlier in the day, taking in all the sights and sounds, I really could not believe that I was physically there. Standing in the pen, I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I was in Times Square on New Year's Eve, let alone being in New York City! At the beginning of my trip, there was no way I could even have imagined being here (I actually made the decision to come while in NZ when I realized I'd be leaving NZ earlier than I had planned). Obviously it's a memorable experience I'll never forget!
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