New Year's in NYC

December 16, 2005 7:38 AM

What should I do on New Year's Eve in NYC?

I've lived here for 5 years, but usually celebrated out of town with my now ex-girlfriend and her family. This year my brother is visiting me from Norway. He kind of wants to be in Times Square at midnight, but my impression is you have to show up there like 6 hours in advance to have a shot at being in the midst of it all. Is that true? Are there other, cooler things we should do? A complicating factor is that I don't drink, and I am not rich.

posted by edlundart to society & culture (18 comments total)

http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/28012
posted by reverendX at 7:51 AM on December 16, 2005

I gotta say, I've lived in NYC for 10 years and within an hour's drive of it my entire life and I have never ever ever been tempted to be in Times Square or in the city at all on NYE. Here's a good quote from Gawker that sums up my feelings:

"Like St. Patrick’s Day, the 31st is a giant amateur hour, an excuse for wannabe-alcoholics to waste hundreds of dollars on an overcrowded, open bar, and don sparkly shirts that no God could ever have intended for them to wear. And after the ball drops and your night has officially reached its expected level of letdown, you can spend 75 minutes searching for a cab, only to finally hail a ride in a mobile vomit unit. Fun!"

Seriosly, the place is deluged with tweakers and nearly every bar decides it is suddenly ok to charge 150 bucks just to get in.

What you said about showing up early is indeed the case and if it is freezing out you won't be happy. You will be jammed into your spot till long after the ball drops. I'd suggest going to Brooklyn and finding a nice bar that may have the ball drop on television. Maybe I'm a scrooge.
posted by spicynuts at 7:51 AM on December 16, 2005

go see the Dickies at the Continental
posted by Stynxno at 7:51 AM on December 16, 2005

Do not, under any circumstances, go to Times Square on New Years if you value your sanity. Speaking from personal experience here.

There are a good number of parties listed on Upcoming - perhaps one of them would float your boat(s)?

(Also, there's a TMBG show that night, if that works - the late show is sold out, though.)
posted by Remy at 7:52 AM on December 16, 2005

I see warnings like Remy's (above) all the time regarding New Year's eve in NYC at Times Square. Why is that? Why should one avoid the area?

Disclaimer: I've been to NYC (and of course Times Square) several times, but never in December or January. And I've watched the NYEve celebrations in Times Square on TV as background filler during New Years Eve celebration parties.
posted by seawallrunner at 8:05 AM on December 16, 2005

Seawallrunner: have you ever been to an arena concert with a general admission ticket? You know, where you are standing on a football or soccer field and there are 200,000 other people standing there with you? Ok, now you know how all those people are in general hopped up on one substance or another (beer, weed, anti-depressants, six packs of marlboro red, frothing, brown-shirted allegiance to the band, whatever) and are basicall unhappy with where they are placed in the crowd or have to go pee or have to find their boyfriend or their meth dealer or have to call their bff on their cell phone and scream how awesome the concert is and so everyone is pushing and shoving and some freakin hippy douche who doesn't believe in soap has his hairy nipple plastered to the back of your neck and his girlfriend, in her haste to show HER nipples to the band is spilling beer down your ass crack and then the guy next to her finally succumbs to the 30 pack of busch lite he consumed in the parking lot and deposits it at your feet via a thick warm stream of beer porridge from his throat? You know that experience? Ok, then take that, add sub zero temperatures, stupid hats and every noise maker available from a dollar store in a 30 mile radius, plus cops on horses, Dick Clark and this year, Mariah Carey and you've got why it's a bad idea. OHHH.. and then, after it is over, add all those people shoving into the train. How's that grab ya?
posted by spicynuts at 8:24 AM on December 16, 2005

seawallrunner

Time square is the necessary evil to keep all the out of towners out of the rest of our hair. Basically, it's a giant mess that is impossible to navigate.
posted by slapshot57 at 8:26 AM on December 16, 2005

Oh yeah..and frat boys. Don't forget the frat boys. And the French.
posted by spicynuts at 8:26 AM on December 16, 2005

If the weather is at all nice, just walk the streets and follow the trails of confetti and streamers in to private parties.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:28 AM on December 16, 2005

watch the south street seaport fireworks from the pedestrain crossing on the brooklyn bridge. it's beautiful.
posted by ebeeb at 8:31 AM on December 16, 2005

I rather like the Brooklyn Bridge idea, ebeeb. Would we need to go early or otherwise be prepared in some way? Concert ideas are interesting too. Thanks so far, keep the suggestions coming!
posted by edlundart at 9:06 AM on December 16, 2005

and, sorry I missed the previous thread. Thanks for the link to that. The comedy club idea is interesting...
posted by edlundart at 9:15 AM on December 16, 2005

Spicynuts hahaha

I echo not going to Times Square. Uh ... last year in Central Park there was fireworks and a concert (and a marathon? I think), which was cool. Finding a private party is a good idea.
posted by fourstar at 9:50 AM on December 16, 2005

Another vote to avoid Times Square.


Find something local, within walking distance. Cabs are non-existant after 12:30am and the subway can be a drag too. Something homey and full of locals the neighborhood.

Type and cut out the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne and hand out the slips where you go. You will make a few friends...and your brother will have some stories to take back.
posted by lampshade at 12:41 PM on December 16, 2005

Midnight run in Central Park (I think there are fireworks there too.)

I've always enjoyed very small get togethers on New Years Eve. Get a couple dozen oysters at Citerellas. Some champagne, pate, etc. and have a picnic indoors. Rent "Casablanca". Make lists of goals achieved, aspired too, etc.. My friends and I stand on chairs, sofas, furniture at midnight and JUMP into the new year. (Be sure the champagne glass in your hand is empty when you jump.)
posted by MotherTucker at 1:37 PM on December 16, 2005

You have to show up around 6 AM and stand in one spot all day to have any shot at a view of the ball in Times Square. By noon, the idea of crossing Times Square by any means other than subway is impossible; plan ahead. Also, bear in mind that if you're caught in the vicinity after about 8 PM, cops and their restrictive crowd control measures may make it very difficult for you to leave or even move around very much.

You'll not find anywhere worth being that will take your NYE reservation now - maybe for NYE '06-'07. Most of the good places start booking several months in advance.
posted by ikkyu2 at 1:42 PM on December 16, 2005

Upcoming.org is probably a good call, that's where you're likely to find cool stuff that doesn't make Time-Out. As the day approaches I expect new stuff might be added as well.

Yes, Times Sq. is a big fat hassle. To be in a great spot, you do have to be there in the afternoon. The cops use barricades to control the flow of people from block to block, and you'll likely be routed through Riverside park to get to 42nd, so to speak.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 10:29 PM on December 16, 2005

I see warnings like Remy's (above) all the time regarding New Year's eve in NYC at Times Square. Why is that? Why should one avoid the area?

Most of the reasons have already been covered, but just to chip in my recollections of two years ago:

- The subways will not stop in the area around 8PM. From my recollection, this includes 42nd St (1237NQRW), 49th St (NRW), 50th St (ACE and 123 stops). When we wanted to leave early (the one time we tried to go), we were directed to walk up to 57th St.

- After the ball drop, transportation becomes hellish and stays that way for a good 2-3 hours. It's the busiest day of the year at the 42nd St. station, and that's saying a lot. (Also, everyone is extremely drunk, which makes the platforms even less pleasant than usual.)

- Every block is barricaded off, from 42nd up to around 55th on both 7th and Broadway. You will not be allowed to walk down towards 42nd St, only up (away from the alleged fun). If you absolutely must walk down, you need to show the cops some sort of printed confirmation that you have reservations somewhere and there's no other way to get there. And you will have to do this every block. You may be able to walk cross-town without trouble if it's early enough but even that ability goes away soon enough.

- The cops are excessively...cop-like. My wife was told, by the cop that was in front of her upon entering, "I'm gonna frisk you GOOD". YMMV, obviously, but it didn't leave me with a good impression of the event.

- We got there at 8PM; the closest we could get was 50th St. You can't see anything from there, obviously. What they do is put up huge monitors that they run advertising on and, annoyingly, a countdown to the end of each hour - probably so you can practice counting and get really excited that you only have 3! more! hours! to! go!

In summary: You're going to be in the same spot for hours upon hours before hand, with no provided entertainment, in the cold, so that you can basically *not* see the ball drop - but at least you were in the area, right?

Like I said - skip it.

Also, Jake at Gothamist has co-opted the thread, there may be more suggestions there.
posted by Remy at 11:37 AM on December 17, 2005