2013 - Commence! | Tallulah Goes Places

Check out that date right above there, people. It's 2013!! Hurrah!

Another year, another opportunity to...keep doing things...that are, y'know...okay I didn't think this through. Point being, it's all exciting.

Why?

BECAUSE STILL NYC!

Which means?

NEW YEARS AT TIMES SQUARE!!

Kind of.

What happens is this: if you're a tourist come to do New Years Eve at Times Square (because every single local clears the hell out of there) it's not a simple matter of rocking up near midnight and gleefully cheering the descent of a LED light ball in a curtain of confetti. Oh, no. Here is the description of what happens from the official website of Times Square -

"By approximately 3:00 PM., the Bowtie of Times Square is fully closed to traffic. Revelers are directed by the NYPD to gather in separate viewing sections. As one section fills up, the revelers are directed by police to the next viewing section. As the evening progresses, revelers continue to fill the Times Square neighborhood along Broadway and Seventh Avenue moving uptown from 43rd Street to as far as Central Park."

That's right people, to just see the ball from any kind of minute angle, you gotta get there over 9 hours before the countdown to get literally herded like cattle with over a million other people into sectioned off metal pens. You stand there, squished in with your new best friends, with no water (confiscated by the NYPD in case it's alcohol), no food, and no toilets (there are no public or temporary ones around, and you sure as hell can't get into any of the surrounding restaurants).

You then advance through the pens as the uninitiated and disastrously uninformed give up and leave.

Happy New Year!

What the uninitiated yet wonderfully informed do: have dinner and drinks at home, then rock up to 40th st at about 11pm to get herded in a pen a bit behind everything, but where the fireworks and confetti fountains are still visible.

Sneaky sneaky.

What actually happened was this - we also saw on the website that they were setting up screens of Times Square all along Broadway, all the way up to 58^th, so we figured we could leave our place at around 10 or 11pm, catch the subway down one stop or so and walk until we found crowds and exciting things. But we took the express subway accidentally instead (fate!), which went straight – yes – to 42^nd Street, Times Square.

Still wary of reports and reviews of chaos, we decided to put our heads just above ground – but as we were ushered out by NYPD, we realised we were only on 40^th Street, a block behind the tower with the ball, and soon enough we were in line to get into our own metal pen. The atmosphere was electric – anticipated mutterings, the honking orchestra of mini vuvuzelas some sadist had given out, helicopters above (hi, world!), ridiculous novelty “2013” glasses flashing, and the muted roar of a million (presumably fatigued, hungry, thirsty and desperately needing to pee) people barely 100m away. We got all this, plus views of the confetti and fireworks, for only a half hour wait, instead of 10. Not bad.

Plus, we got our NYE in (kinda) Times Square, New York City.

Hello, 2013. I am ready.

Preparing in the apartment. OUR WHITENESS IS BLINDING.

My friends are pairs of lips

Lips waiting in the subway.

Our spot - the tower with the ball on it is that really white one right next to the stripy office building - the spiky bits on top is where the ball actually goes down to. SO CLOOOSE.