LONG COLD WAIT for the ball drop (Worth it)

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Took the overnight bus from Toronto and got into New York City at 8AM. The greyhound bus is OK comfortable and it only costs $80 return to get to New York. I will say buses in Europe and Australia are more comfortable than North America and have features such as seat side USB ports and movies playing.

I had no real plans today beyond the Times Square ball drop so I decided to do some wandering. First stop was Times Square at the stage itself. Even at this early hour there were people camped out with sleeping bags and blankets. I admired their dedication to get the best spots. If you want to do this than you will need to be in a group because there must be someone there at all times to watch your stuff while others go to the bathroom. Also 12-18 hours is a long time to sit by yourself. Police barricades were already being prepared and the entirety of 7th avenue was saturated with cops. Some entrepreneurs were already selling special chairs to sit on.

After Times Square I went to Rockefeller center and saw the big Christmas Tree. It was beautifully decorated and a must see even after Christmas. I watched the people ice skating for awhile before heading out. Tip I got from some people. If you want to go ice skating it was recommend to go to the central park skating rinks rather than Rockefeller. It is just as nice in Central park and it is not as crowded so you don't have to wait.

After this I wandered back to the Port Authority and ate breakfast at a nearby diner. Breakfast was a western omelet and juice. I almost certain this diner was the same one I ate at last time I was in New York but I couldn't remember for certain. In any case it was a delicious meal and helped shake off the last bit of bus lag. I filled up my Metro card before heading out again. If you are going to use the machines to add money to your metrocard you may have trouble if you are not American. Once I put in my credit card it asked me for the zip code which being Canadian I did not have. Thankfully some of the machines take cash. The other quirk I find with the NYC subway system is that it is hard to find a transit map. I had to download 3rd party maps because no where in the stations could i find maps readily available. Off topic but New York is also a great place for street drama. I saw a man dressed as a clown having a loud argument with some soldiers. I almost certain the clown was intoxicated because I couldn't understand a word he was saying.

After I oriented myself I went uptown towards my hostel, which for this trip is HI NYC. Hosteling international is a group of hostels that meet certain standards and you buy a membership card or else pay $3 extra for the non member fee. These hostels are clean and well run but I don't prefer them because I quite often find them lacking in quirks and they are often stale and too commercial. The bed in a 10 male dorm room was $70 American which is quite a good price considering it was New Years Eve. Some hostels were advertising beds for $200. Hotel rooms were running close to an thousand dollars. During busy periods always book ahead of time. A person came in right before me and asked for a bed and was promptly informed that they were all booked up. I managed to check in early which allowed me to grab a bit of sleep before I made the trip to Times Square.

The hostel had various events for New Years including champagne in their theatre room, a pub crawl and going to see the Central Park fireworks. I opted for the group walk to Times Square. This is helpful for the solo traveler and people visiting the city for the first time. While I was waiting I chatted with people in the entrance way. It was a diverse group there. I met a Brazilian woman who was leaving to catch a flight and would celebrate new years in the air and a Turkish man who was born in Canada and moved to Turkey when he was young. He was supposed to be in the group going down to Times Square but I didn't see him so I can't include his name in this blog. It was approximately 20 people who left the hostel together. We were given a piece of paper with advise.

1. No Backpacks or large bags of any kind

2. No open bottles of alcohol allowed

3. Once you are in your section you cannot leave or else you will be denied reentry (STRICTLY ENFORCED)

There were other pieces of advise but these were the important ones.

Our tour leader who was a native New Yorker and a hostel employee and he knew the best method to approach this. The best spot is 42nd and 7th. He advised us you should go from uptown and walk down 7th avenue to maximize your chances of seeing the ball. We took the subway to 59th avenue and along the way we introduced ourselves. There were people from Switzerland, Mexico, Australia, Canada, Britain and China in our group. When we reached the first checkpoint which was near 51st and 7th street we were all checked by the police and that includes metal detectors. One of the ladies from China who had a bus booked for 1AM tried to get her luggage through but was turned away. I never found out for sure but I think she missed the ball drop entirely 😞. At this point I had lost track of everyone in the chaos of the crowd. I finally found 3 other people i met earlier. They are Martha from Sacramento who just flew in that day and would fly out tomorrow morning, Robine from Bern, Switzerland who was traveling in the USA for a few weeks and Jess from Melbourne Australia who was studying at Kansas State University. The 4 of us made it the farthest from our hostel. We got all the way to 50th street and could see the Times Square ball in the distance.

We had started down at 4PM and got to our final position just before 5PM. It was cold that night around the freezing mark and we would have to stand up the whole time with no bathroom breaks. We chatted as we waited for the hours to pass. Always a good idea to go down to this event in a group because at the very worse you have support and someone to talk to. It really helped the time pass. Strangely enough at least 5 pizza delivery people showed up asking if anyone ordered pizzas. Inevitably they never found the people who ordered it and sold the pizzas to the hungry crowd at $20 a medium pizza. Later the evening a person came up to the crowd and sold Tim Hortons hot chocolate for $5 a cup. A lot of people purchased this just for the warmth. Everyone was doing their best to keep warm. Some people ducked their heads so they weren't exposed to the wind, some people brought heat pads for their gloves and shoes and other just jumped up and down to keep the blood flowing. It was tight quarters so you got to know the people around you. Sadly enough some people couldn't make it all the way to midnight. The biggest reason is the lack of bathrooms and the police let people out but advised they couldn't get back in. if you were in a group it was hard decision. One group from Dallas had to leave when one of the people got sick and they didn't want her heading back alone. It was a tough call for them because they had waited so long but they ultimately stayed together. Inevitably the close quarters and the fact everyone was bumping against each other did some spark some arguments but the heavy police presence nearby kept it from getting serious.

At 8PM the Dick Clark countdown starting with live music and we were so hoping to hear Idina Menzel and Taylor Swift sing but to our disappointment we were too far away. We could almost hear it and see the screen but we would need to be 1 block closer to hear it properly. It was tough blow because we now had another 4 hours of waiting. In light of this some people in the crowd decided to entertain themselves and we tried to sing Let it Go from the Frozen soundtrack but we didn't know all the words. Also trivia games were played using smartphones and we periodically counted down and cheered as each hour passed. The cold was doing murder to my lips but I managed to borrowed some lip balm from Jess and I reciprocated by loaning her my battery backup charger to keep her Iphone running. Travel tip, a battery backup for your phone is cheap and very useful especially for airports and bus stations where you can never be sure there will be enough power ports. Some people in the crowd grew so tired they sat down on the ground to rest and keep warm. I thought this was inappropriate because you take up more space on the ground and make it more crowded for everyone. Promoters tossed gloves and hats to the crowd and I so wished I had gotten one of those big covergirl hats but they went mostly to people in the front of the barricades.

Finally the time had come and as Taylor Swift finished singing Welcome to NY and Shake It off (couldn't hear) we eagerly watched the minutes count down. The last singer was someone I didn't recognize and as midnight approached we impatiently shouting for him to finish up and cut his mike off. The ball went up at 60 seconds and we counted down with the crowd getting and louder as the seconds went down. We were chanted in many languages and I saw at least a dozen different flags being waved. With a roar we reached zero and as one we all shouted HAPPY NEW YEAR. The fireworks display was marvelous and I wish I had gotten better pictures but it was nice just to be there. After saying goodbye to people around us Martha, Jess, Robine and myself closed ranks and headed out of Times Square. It was quite a sea of humanity. 1 million people trying to get to their destination. We navigated the crowds and the police checkpoints and made our way uptown towards our subway stop. We could have stopped and taken a break at bars nearby but the covers were very high for New Years and some of them were hosting private parties where we could not get in anyway. We got to 59th street and took the subway back towards our hostel. We were hungry when we got off and since MacDonalds was closed we stopped at a pizza place to eat and reflect on the events of the night. The 4 of us made it but it was a tough time with the cold and lack of bathrooms. Glad we were all there to support each other. We all agreed it was an once in a lifetime event you will do because only crazy or dedicated people would go year after year 😊. We got back to the hostel and after hugs goodbye I went and passed out on my bed.

So in conclusion. The Times Square ball drop was a long cold wait and requires a lot of endurance for the 8 plus hours but it is so worth it as 1 million people came together to countdown to the New Year.

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