A History of New Years Eve in Times Square

Millions of people all over the world will tune into live feeds Wednesday night to ring in the New Year with the mass crowds of people in Manhattan's Times Square.  But the celebration wasn't always an all-night affair of celebrity entertainment.  

 

That's according to Tim Tompkins with the Times Square Alliance.  He says when the New York Times threw their first New Year's Eve party in 1904 to celebrate the opening of their headquarters in the newly-named Times Square, the ball we know today was nowhere to be found.

 

"There were a lot of fireworks that went off on the top of the building, and that was the origin of the celebration," he said.

 

Tompkins says objections from the fire department led to the first ball drop in 1907.  He says the ceremony really blew up in the past two decades when they began providing a global television feed and featuring performances on-sight. Tompkins says that took some serious convincing with locals...

 

"There were still some retailers that would put up plywood over their storefronts because, in the past, people used to get really drunk and really out of control, and kind of fly through windows," he said.

 

Tompkins says this year, they're taking the worldly feel to the next level.  He says they've partnered with the International Rescue Committee to help displaced refugees ring in their new beginnings by signaling the ball drop to 2015.