My Times Square New Year

Times Square 1992

Happy New Year!    I readily admit to sleeping right through the midnight celebrations, but there was no way I was going to do that when I have a 4:00 AM wakeup call for the early morning show on WICH AM 1310.      I don't bid good riddance to 2014 any more than I expect 2015 to be perfect.   My resolution last year to avoid drama worked well for the most part, but health issues persist with elusive answers.   There are certainly some things still on my bucket list, and I really want to feel up to it.   That's all I ask.

 

The trip to Times Square is one major New Year's tradition that came off my bucket list when a friend and I became a part of it during the transition from 1991 to 1992.   We took the train from New Haven to New York City that night.   Panhandlers were everywhere from the moment we arrived at Grand Central Station.    After dinner, we made the trek of a few blocks to where a million revelers had gathered.     It was very cold, similar to last night, and there was the most massive police presence I had ever witnessed.   Wherever the TV cameras would point, that portion of the crowd would absolutely erupt like a giant wave of sound and motion.   I remember trying to get out of the cold in the alcove of a Broadway theatre for at least a short time, only to be politely yet firmly told to move on with a "Good evening, gentlemen" by the workers there.   We finally found refuge and facilities in a huge McDonald's that was among the most welcome sights I've ever seen.   After hours of waiting, mostly outside, the ball dropped and pandemonium ensued just like the clockwork it always is.   Within an hour, the crowds were mostly headed home, producing a roaring echo through the canyons between the buildings like I've never experienced before or since then.   The train ride back to New Haven was certainly full of a cast of drunken characters.  One guy got off at a small rail platform stop to relieve himself only to find his train ride pulling away.   I'll never forget the astonished look on his face.   A big barrel at New Haven's Union Station proved its worth as a handy receptacle for a very inebriated young female passenger's vomit.   Yes, it was a special night.   Now I can say that Big Apple adventure is under my belt.   As with many things in life, I can say I have no regrets doing it and have no plans to do it again.