[2003-12-29] NEW YEAR'S EVE TIMES SQUARE STYLE Caption for image: The dropping of the lighted ball in Times Square on New Year's Eve is an American tradition. by Pam North For almost a century Times Square has celebrated the advent of the New Year, its annual event evolving into the center of worldwide attention. The first rooftop celebration atop One Times Square, complete with a fireworks display, took place in 1904. The New York Times produced this event to inaugurate its new headquarters there, and to celebrate the renaming of Longacre Square to Times Square. The first Ball Lowering celebration atop One Times Square, where the ball descended the flagpole at midnight, was held on December 31, 1907. The original ball, made of iron, weighed 700 pounds, was 5 feet in diameter, and was decorated with 100 25-watt light bulbs. In 1942 and 1943, the Ball Lowering was suspended due to the wartime dimout. The crowds who still gathered in Times Square celebrated with a minute of silence, followed by chimes ringing out from an amplifier truck parked at One Times Square. In the early 1980s, the ball was replaced by an apple,New York City's famous symbol, but it just wasn't the same, and public sentiment prevailed for the return of the traditional ball. For the Millennium New Year, Waterford Crystal of Ireland designed a new ball that dropped at midnight on December 31, 1999. For that event, over 100 Waterford Crystal master craftsmen designed an impressive geodesic sphere 6 feet in diameter, weighing approximately 1,070 pounds, made out of 190 panels of Waterford crystal. It was the first time the ball was completely transparent. The ball is covered with 504 crystal triangles that vary in size, ranging from 4 3/4 to 5 3/4 inches per side. The triangles are bolted to 168 translucent triangular lexan panels, which are attached to the aluminum frame of the ball. The same ball is still being used. For the New Years events since, Waterford has been replacing several of the panels with new ones featuring new themes for each year: "Star of Hope" (2000), "Hope for Abundance" (2001), "Hope for Healing" (2002), "Hope for Courage" (2003) and now the "Hope for Unity" (2004). The "Hope for Unity" design has three flowing motifs converging on the central point, where the triangles are fixed to the panels that cover the ball. Surrounding that central design are a series of straight cuts representing the peoples of the world. Waterford Crystal's sentiments are that the "Hope for Unity" theme is particularly appropriate for this New Year, with all that is happening in the world. The ball is illuminated by 696 multicolored light bulbs, 96 high-intensity strobe lights, and 90 rotating pyramid mirrors that are computer-controlled to produce a state-of-the-art light show of colorful patterns and kaleidoscopic effects. Each subsequent year that the ball will be used, a new theme will be featured, so that when the ball is finally retired it will be comprised of many different panels featuring optimistic wishes for humanity. The ball is owned by the building owners of One Times Square. New Year's Eve in Times Square is a traditional event watched via satellite by millions of people annually as the worldwide symbol of the turn of the New Year. Hundreds of thousands of people attend the actual event. Continuous music fills the air. The ball descends 77 feet in 60 seconds as it marks the arrival of the New Year, and at the stroke of midnight the light bulbs on the ball are turned off as the numerals of the New Year shine out. A two-minute pyrotechnic display brilliantly illuminates the sky with bursts of custom-mixed colors glittering against the darkness, synchronized via cumputer control with other special effects. Two tons of confetti are released from building rooftops, creating a celebratory blizzard of color raining down upon the revelers. Hundreds of balloons are released into the sky. Reality has to follow the fantasy. The resulting debris is removed throughout the night by numerous Times Square Business Improvement District sanitation workers, along with the New York City Department of Sanitation crews, quickly returning the area to its usual tidiness. Wherever you watch the celebration, on television or right there on Times Square turf, may it be the beginning of a year blessed by joy and peace for all.