Preparations for New Years Eve in Times Square?

Question

I want to go to Times Square for New Year's Eve and have never done it before. I've just moved to NYC and don't know what to expect. Anyone have any tips on when to get there, what to do to keep busy/safe/warm, and how things will go once there? Thanks

Answer 1

they do pen people in. when i was there people started mooing because we felt like cattle.

where i was we weren't shoulder to shoulder though. there was lots of space.

i remember being like eight blocks up from times square and just seeing the ball in the distance. we didn't get there very early though. probably around ten or eleven. it was freezing and I would have worn more layers. there was this guy delivering pizzas to the crowds, I think we didn't have enough money to buy a pizza, isn't that sad. and he didn't come back. maybe look up the numbers of pizza places near there and see if they will deliver to your crossstreet.

oh yeah they make you walk up like a zillion blocks before you can even enter the area. so just start at the top and go as far down as you can. it is like a bottleneck, there is only certain streets where you can go in. we had to walk all the way up and then all the way back down.

Answer 2

Have done it twice. The cops do start barracading early, at around 6 p.m., so get there really early if you want a good spot.

There are no bathrooms, and it is a long wait, so make sure you go ahead of time -- like mom said on long trips.

There will be lots of people who are very drunk, and some of them don't handle liquor so great, so wear clothes that you don't mind if someone gets sick on. Also wear shoes that will stand up to urine (no bathrooms, remember?)

If you can get a lawn chair in with you, you will look like a genius to everybody else. The weather varies -- can be as high as 40 or bitter cold, so dress for the weather.

It is a lot of fun, and the momentum in the ten minutes leading up to midnight is totally insane. And you will not believe how loud 500,000 people are in a confined space.
Have fun!

Answer 3

Better to tell you what you cannot expect: public bathrooms.
People start arriving in the afternoon to stake out their spots. By 6:00 the cops start barricading. As soon as the area inside the cades fill up they stop letting anyone in. From that point on -- sometime after 6 & before 8 or so -- everyone stands shoulder to shoulder. So if you leave to go to the bathroom, you're gone. If you can't hold it in the cold for 6-8 hours, fuhgeddaboudit!