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Published: January 1st 2004
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Times Square
As you can see, i stand out really well in my Tangerine Hat!!!! Well here goes for my first entry:-
For some years now i had wanted to enjoy the experience of New Year in New York and last year I finally had the opportunity to do just that. Its all started with plenty of forward planning, taking into account of how busy it would be i booked the trip back in April last year (2003). The thought of an 8 month wait did not deter me one bit because i knew full well it would be wotrh it. So, it was all booked and i kept checking of my calender day by day until finally the 27th December finally arrived. I was up and of to Manchester airport and on the big silver bird and away to N'York. I stayed at the Pennsylvania hotel opposite Penn Street Station and Maddison Square Garden and found the hotel to be both comfortable and in an ideal walking distance location for most things. The first day i took in the Empire State Building, well worth the queing (although it was busier than usual due to the holiday season) and the views were fantastic. The next few days saw me taking in all the tourist things like visiting the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, a ride in a Yellow Cab, shows on Broadway etc.
The day i had been waiting for had now approached, its was 31st December NEW YEARS EVE and i had it all planned to get a good spot in Times Square having travelled from the UK for this experience there was no way I wanted to be down near Central Park (which incidently is where people did end up). So i went for a nice wander about in the morning, and arrived in Times Square at 2pm, yes 10 Hours before the main event. I would like to point out that even at this time people were gathering in mass to try and steal my idea of having a good spot. At around 4pm the police closed the roads in Times Square an proceeded to place pens in the road, at which point EVERYBODY was searched and then allowed into one of these pens. So it was now 4-30pm and I still had 7 1/2 hours to go, although this was made some what more pleasant by the people i was stood with two lads and a girl from Maryland whos names i can't quite remember. The reason for not remembering names however is not because i was induced by alcohol, in fact you were not allowed alcohol in Times Square that night, so anyone thinking of going for a big knees up, im sorry, its not for you!!!!!! The eveing passed by with the playing of music and the occasional song sung by Cyndi Lauper and from 6pm on the hour every hour there was a big screen counting down. Living in a place called Blackpool in England i decided to take my local football teams hat with me thinking i might stand out if anyone was watching seeing that my team plays in Tangerine. However around 10pm my hopes were dashed when they decided to issue EVERYONE in Times Suare with a orange hat, so now i didnt really stand out, more i blended in!!!!! And now the big finalie, the crystal ball is dropped a minute before midnight and is the button is pressed by a famous person or someone who has done America proud (this year it was the female forces lady who was captured in Iraq). So the ball starts to drop, the tension mounts and then BANG, its 2004, there are fireworks going off, and tickertape flying from what looks like every building in New York. I was in awe of the whole thing, the atmosphere, the huge scale on which this event is done is nothing short of phenominal. You will be some what surprised then to read that by ten past twelve, the place was near enough deserted, yed almost 1 million people seemed to vanish, it seems that people come and wait for midnight, then thats it they just go home (unless they all went to a party which i didn't know about). So that was it my New Year in New York had finally been achieved, and i must admit it is something i would reccommend to enyone, you have just got to experience it.
Well hope this has given you some insight into New Years Eve in New York, and providing you havent fallen asleep reading this, i will be posting more diaries of some of my other travel experiences.
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Savage
Mark Savage
Nice story
Glad you finally got to realize your New Years in NY. If you're ever looking for another New Years experience, Vegas has a rather good one too. Not to the same degree, but the whole Las Vegas Blvd is shut down allowing usually 300,000 + people to go up and down the strip, in and out of casinos, and drink fairly freely. At midnight, all of the casinos do a coordinated fireworks show. Not bad. The Lady that pushed the button in New York, her name was Jessica Lynch. Glad you had a good time, I'd love to check it out sometime.