News desk
\nNEW YORK
\nNew York\u2019s Times Square erupted with fireworks and cheers at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday as thousands of hardy merrymakers braved pouring rain and watched the glowing New Year\u2019s Eve ball complete its midnight descent to mark the start of 2019.
\nFor the multitudes who gathered in the famed midtown Manhattan crossroads, the thrilling moment was reward for enduring hours of standing in a steady downpour during the waning hours of 2018.
\nHelping to keep spirits high was a slate of performers including Christina Aguilera, New Kids on the Block and Sting who entertained the resilient crowd. Many donned plastic rain ponchos and sported colourful, oversized top hats handed out by organisers.
\n\u201cIt was a bucket-list thing,\u201d said Daniela Ramous, a 34-year-old sales manager from McAllen, Texas. \u201cYou grow up watching it on TV, you see all the excitement. There\u2019s something magical about New York during this time of year.\u201d
\nInjecting a somber note into the festivities, the Times Square Alliance, the business association that organises the event, paid a special tribute to freedom of the press, after a year in which journalists came under attack around the world, including in the United States.
\nA minute before midnight, an invited group of journalists from ABC News, NBC News, the Washington Post, Reuters and other outlets joined Mayor Bill de Blasio in pushing the button that initiates the glittering ball\u2019s drop.
\nVisitors had begun gathering inside penned-off enclosures in the morning, starting an hours-long marathon of standing in one place, with no access to public restrooms.
\nBelying the idea that New Yorkers themselves eschew the Times Square festivities, Eskie Garcia, a 59-year-old city worker living in Brooklyn, said she has come every year for about a decade.
\n\u201cYou have to come here in person,\u201d she said before applying lipstick and asking a stranger to take her picture on her cellphone. \u201cEspecially when you live by yourself. You come, you meet people.\u201d
\nDancing in the rain
\nJanette Masson, 29, said she preferred this year\u2019s rain to last year\u2019s bone-chilling cold. Masson, who works in retail in Boston, had been in her pen since 9.30 a.m., eating granola bars for lunch and dinner.
\n\u201cI can deal with it,\u201d said Masson\u2019s 61-year-old mother, Judy Masson, as she stood in the rain with many hours of waiting still to come. \u201cYou make the best of a bad thing.\u201d
\nUmbrellas were banned as part of the tight security plan, reflecting concern over the possibility of random attacks. Plastic ponchos were allowed, with street vendors selling them for $5 on nearby avenues.
\nThe Werline family from San Antonio, Texas, parlayed a connection with a friend who works at the Hard Rock Cafe into a coveted dry spot. Even though they did not have tickets for the private party inside, they had been permitted to stand under the attraction\u2019s deep awning.
\n\u201cThank God we know someone,\u201d Tammy Werline, 49, said as rain cascaded off the awning\u2019s edge and people in suits and cocktail dresses buzzed in and out of the restaurant, almost directly below the glowing ball.
\nThe tradition of watching a giant ball drop from a pole on top of the narrow building at the head of Times Square in midtown Manhattan began in 1907.
\nThe ball in current use – a glittering, LED-studded sphere made by Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting – made its debut in 2008. Weighing 11,875 pounds (5,386 kg) and measuring 12 feet (3.7 meters) in diameter, it sits year-round on the roof of One Times Square, the one-time headquarters of the New York Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
News desk NEW YORK New York\u2019s Times Square erupted with fireworks and cheers at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday as thousands of hardy merrymakers braved pouring rain and watched the glowing New Year\u2019s Eve ball complete its midnight descent to mark the start of 2019. For the multitudes who gathered in the famed midtown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n