Most NYE celebrations have been OK, not much to talk about. 1996 was a milestone year, so here's my NYE upgrade for it.
Cover image made using both Excel 2003 and MS Paint.
The year spanning May 1995 through May 1996 was definitely one of the better periods for me. It was the final year I would be in a traditional school setting (in this case, college). The future was full of hope and promise. I even had a relationship, which was rare for me. New Year's Eve 1995 was better than most for me, but there isn't much to tell about it.
Even though I grew up in New York City, the celebrating of New Year's Eve in Times Square was an event best left for the tourists: cold weather, horrendous traffic, packed subway trains, and on top of that, the "physiological needs" we all have. In 2008 I decided to see what the big deal was about so I went to TSQ in NYC for NYE.
What would NYE 1995 have been like had I celebrated it in Times Square instead? Let's find out, shall we?
NYC in 1995
Crime was dropping drastically thanks to a return of common sense in the legal system after decades of decay and decline. Optimisim was on the rise throughout NYC as a result. Time Square itself was family-friendly, rather than the NSFW freak show it had been during the 1970s and 1980s. Best of all, people had more freedom of movement then than in 2002 and every year since. NYE 1995 would have been the ideal time to celebrate in TSQ.
Location, Location, Location
With about 2 million people filling the streets between Central Park South (60th St) and 34th Street, bounded by 8th Avenue and Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), it's a given that some locations are better than others.
I wanted to have a good look at the New Year's Eve crystal ball, so I wanted to be on 45th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue (which I managed to achieve in NYE 2008). This is also the area where most television networks stage their crews, so I had stiff competition for my spot.
People were allowed to enter the zone at 4pm, but I wasn't going to have it: no guarantee of location. For NYE 1995, as it was in NYE 2008, I would take my spot at 12pm.
Convincing my girlfriend in being at that location for 12 hours would have been difficult, but I would have promised that the experience would have been worth her time.
Once we would take care of our physiological needs, we would take our spot. If we leave the spot for any reason, we forfeit our place. I made sure that would not happen in NYE 2008, and I would have made sure it did not happen in NYE 1995.
The Significance of the Passage of Time (at TSQ for NYE)
So much was happening that time was passing by quickly. A few other people had the same idea I had, and they picked their spots. A few people even had chairs with them; there were no cars entering the celebration zone, so this was OK.
Meeting fellow participants from the local area, across the nation, and around the world was fun. We got to exchange stories of how we got to where we were. We learned things we had not known before (like bringing a chair).
As the hours passed and New Year's Day arrived in places many time zones away, the atmosphere at street level grew more and more electric. Excitement was in the air. People were having the time of their lives.
Anticipation for Time Square's own moment was growing by magnitudes.
Bonding with Fellow Revelers
During all this time we were doing all we could to keep warm. This included aerobic dancing and jumping up and down to keep the blood flowing. Along the way we exchanged all sorts of stories and our expectations for the New Year.
Given where I was, there were television crews roaming the streets with their video cameras looking for revelers. Whether we made it into the news clips or not, we didn't care; we were having a good time in the mild weather.
No matter what would happen after 1996 arrives, we would have memories and experiences no one could take away from us. Drugs and meds? That's a different matter. But no people can take away those memories.
The Moment We've Been Waiting For
Once the New Year's Eve ball had dropped and the sign for 2009 lit up we screamed our heads off and embraced and hugged each other. Within 15 minutes, the streets are clear of people and waiting for Department of Sanitation sweeper vehicles to do their thing.
For 1996, it would have been the same experience only with more. Having my girlfriend with me, we would have done what all couples do with each other in Times Square on New Year's Eve. We would have stayed on the street for a few moments longer to take in the moment before I would give her a tour of the area not possible at any other time. After that, we would celebrate the New Year in our own way.
🎈🎉🎊🎉🎈🎉🎊🎉🎈
I'm a New Yorker who actually celebrated New Year's Eve at Time Square. It's an experience which even the anti-social among us would be fond about years later. I had a good time in 2008 to ring in 2009. As fun as that was for me, I think that NYE @ TSQ in 1995 would have been a magical experience.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
