Times Square Ball


The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City's Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ball descends down a specially designed flagpole, beginning at 23:59:00 ET, and resting at midnight to signal the start of the new year.
The event was first organized by Adolph Ochs, owner of The New York Times, replacing a series of New Year's Eve fireworks displays he held at the building to promote its status as the new headquarters of the Times, while the ball itself was manufactured by Jacob Starr of sign maker company Artkraft Strauss. First held on December 31, 1907, to welcome 1908, the ball drop has been held annually since, except in 1942 and 1943 in observance of wartime blackouts.
The ball has been updated seven times to reflect improvements in lighting technology: the original ball was in diameter, constructed from wood and iron, and illuminated with 100 incandescent light bulbs. By contrast, the sixth iteration of the ball contained over 32,000 LEDs, and the seventh iteration debuting for 2025–26 is in diameter. Since 1999–2000, the ball has featured an outer surface consisting of crystal panels manufactured by Waterford Crystal, which contain inscriptions and designs representing a yearly theme.
The ball itself has remained atop One Times Square nearly year-round since 2009; with a renovation of One Times Square slated to be completed in 2026, the ball will become publicly accessible as part of a new observation deck, and several previous iterations of the ball will be exhibited as part of a new museum.
Apart from New Year's Eve, the ball will also drop for the first time on the eve of Independence Day in July 2026 to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.
The prevalence of the Times Square ball drop has inspired similar "drops" at other local New Year's Eve events across the country; while some use balls, some instead drop objects that represent local culture or history.

Events

Event organization

To facilitate the arrival of attendees, Times Square is closed to traffic beginning in the late afternoon on New Year's Eve. The square is then divided into different viewing sections referred to as "pens", into which attendees are directed sequentially upon arrival. Security is strictly enforced by the New York City Police Department, even more so since the 2001–02 edition in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Attendees are required to pass through security checkpoints before they are assigned a pen and are prohibited from bringing backpacks or alcohol to the event.
Security was increased further for its 2017–18 edition due to recent incidents such as the truck attack in New York on October 31, and the 2017 Las Vegas shooting; these included additional patrols of Times Square hotels, rooftop patrol squads and counter-snipers, and the installation of reflective markers on buildings to help officers identify the location of elevated shooters. For 2018–19, the NYPD announced its intent to use a camera-equipped quadcopter to augment the over 1,200 fixed cameras monitoring Times Square, but it was left grounded due to inclement weather.

Festivities

Festivities formally begin in the early evening, with an opening ceremony featuring the raising of the ball backed by Fanfare for the Common Man by The New York Philharmonic and a performance of the national anthem since the 2024–25 edition of the event at 6:00 p.m. ET. Party favours are distributed to attendees, which have historically included large balloons, hats, and other items branded with the event's corporate sponsors.
The lead-up to midnight features a program of entertainment, including musical performances. Some of these performances are organized and televised by [|New Year's Eve television specials] broadcasting from Times Square, such as ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve —which first began featuring live headliners in 2005–06.
The climax of the festivities is the drop itself, which begins at 11:59:00 p.m. ET. Officially, the drop is activated from a control room within One Times Square, synchronized using an National Institute of Standards and Technology time signal received via satellite; a ceremonial button is pressed on-stage by the mayor of New York City and/or invited dignitaries.
At the conclusion of the drop, a numeral sign indicating the new year is illuminated, and a fireworks show is launched from the roof of One Times Square; the fireworks are presently backed by a medley of songs, which have traditionally included "Auld Lang Syne" as performed by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, and "Theme from New York, New York" as performed by Frank Sinatra, among others.
At least of confetti are dropped in Times Square at midnight, overseen since 1992 by Treb Heining—a professional balloon artist who has directed confetti and balloon drops at other major U.S. events such as the presidential nominating conventions. It is thrown by a team of 100 volunteers lining the rooftops of eight Times Square buildings. Treb developed the event's signature "blizzard" effect, using larger confetti pieces better-suited to the outdoor environment. Some of the pieces are inscribed with messages of hope for the new year, which are submitted via a "Wishing Wall" set up in Times Square in December, and via online submissions.

Special guests

Ceremonial button
Since 1996, the drop has been ceremonially "activated" on-stage by one or more dignitaries, accompanied by the current mayor of New York City, who are selected to recognize their community involvement or significance.
Starting with the 2005–06 edition of the event, the drop has been directly preceded by the playing of "Imagine" by John Lennon at 11:55 p.m; since 2010–11, the song has been performed live by the headlining artist: