PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2020-12-31 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Is Times Square Closed to Crowds on New Year's for First Time in History? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • The ball drop in New York City's Times Square on New Year's Eve is going to look a little bit different in 2020. In fact, this will be the first time since that crowds will be prohibited from gathering there to celebrate the end of the year: Times Square's New Year's Eve festivities began on Dec. 31, 1904, in a celebration that marked both the new year and the renaming of Longacre Square as Times Square after The New York Times moved into the Times Building (now One Times Square). Here's the front page of The New York Times from Jan. 1, 1905: Sun, Jan 1, 1905 – Page 1 · The New York Times (New York, New York) · Newspapers.com While Times Square has seen crowds, fireworks, and other New Year's Eve festivities since 1904, it wasn't until 1907 that the celebration featured the iconic ball drop. In a 2015 article looking back at the history of New Year's celebrations in Times Square, The New York Times wrote: A spokesperson for the Times Square Alliance confirmed to Snopes that this will truly be the first time that crowds will be prohibited from gathering to celebrate New Year's Eve. The streets won't be completely empty, however. The New York Times reports that there will be a few hundred people (compared to hundreds of thousands in previous years) gathered for the celebration, including dozens of front-line workers: It should also be noted that this is not the first time festivities in Times Square have been impacted by current events. During World War I, Times Square was open to the public, but the festivities were rather subdued. On Jan 1, 1918, The New York Times wrote that the new year slunk in with rubber shoes on: Tue, Jan 1, 1918 – Page 17 · The New York Times (New York, New York) · Newspapers.com The following year, the war was over, and according to a Jan. 1, 1919, article from the Brooklyn Eagle, the city was to have its First Real New Year's Eve in 3 years. This new year's took place in the middle of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. While many people still gathered in Times Square in celebration of the new year and the end of the war, this may have helped spread the disease. The CDC notes that a third wave of the pandemic arose around this time, and in January 1919 seven-hundred and six cases of influenza and 67 deaths [were] reported in New York City, triggering fear of a recurrence of severe flu activity. The New Year's festivities were also subdued during the second world war. In 1942 and 1943, for instance, no ball was dropped in Times Square, nor were there any fireworks or bright neon displays, due to dim-outs related to World War II. While these dim-outs (cities turned off their lights as protection against air attacks) made the festivities a little less bright, crowds still gathered in Times Square during these years. The New York Daily News wrote on Dec. 31, 1942: So in the 1940s, the New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square saw crowds, but no ball drop and no bright lights. In 2020, the celebration will feature a ball drop, but no crowds. The Times Square Alliance writes that people can celebrate virtually this year by watching a live stream of the celebration. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url