The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City's Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ball descends down a specially designed flagpole, beginning at 11:59:00 p.m. ET, and resting at 12:00:00 a.m. to signal the start of the new year.

The event was first organized by then-New York Times owner Adolph Ochs, expanding upon New Year's fireworks displays he held at the building since 1904 to promote its status as the Times headquarters. The ball itself was designed by sign company Artkraft Strauss, and inspired by the time ball at the Western Union Telegraph Building. First held on December 31, 1907, to welcome 1908, the ball drop has been held annually since, except in 1942 and 1943 in observance of wartime blackouts during World War II.

The ball has been updated six times to reflect improvements in lighting technology: the original ball was in diameter, constructed from wood and iron, and illuminated with 100 incandescent light bulbs. By contrast, the sixth iteration of the ball contained over 32,000 LEDs, and the seventh iteration which debuted for 2025–26 is in diameter. Since 1999–2000, the ball has typically featured an outer surface consisting of crystal panels manufactured by Waterford Crystal, which contain inscriptions and designs representing a yearly theme; the current ball contains over 5,000 circular panels of varying sizes.

The ball itself has remained atop One Times Square nearly year-round since 2009. As part of a renovation of One Times Square, the ball became accessible to the public in November 2025 as part of a new observation deck attraction, with visitors also able to purchase outgoing crystals from the ball as keepsakes. The prevalence of the event has inspired similar "drops" at other local New Year's Eve events across the country; while some use balls, some instead drop objects that represent local culture or history.

The ball has occasionally been lowered outside of midnight ET on New Year's Eve, including for promotional purposes (including a reported use in 1983 to inaugurate a new Times Square sign, and Toshiba briefly sponsoring a drop for midnight in Japan on the morning of December 31), and the current ball being lowered multiple times per-day for public viewings on One Times Square's observation deck. On July 3 and 4, 2026, the ball was lowered eight times for midnight on Independence Day in each U.S. time zone, as part of a commemoration of the United States Semiquincentennial.

Events Event organization To facilitate the arrival of attendees, Times Square is closed to traffic beginning in the late afternoon on New Year's Eve. The square is then divided into different viewing sections referred to as "pens", into which attendees are directed sequentially upon arrival. Security is strictly enforced by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), even more so since the 2001–02 edition in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Attendees are required to pass through security checkpoints before they are assigned a pen and are prohibited from bringing backpacks or alcohol to the event.

Security was increased further for its 2017–18 edition due to recent incidents such as the truck attack in New York on October 31, and the 2017 Las Vegas shooting; these included additional patrols of Times Square hotels, rooftop patrol squads and counter-snipers, and the installation of reflective markers on buildings to help officers identify the location of elevated shooters. For 2018–19, the NYPD announced its intent to use a camera-equipped quadcopter to augment the over 1,200 fixed cameras monitoring Times Square, but it was left grounded due to inclement weather.

Festivities Festivities formally begin in the early evening, with an opening ceremony featuring the raising of the ball at 6:00 p.m. ET. Party favours are distributed to attendees, which have historically included large balloons, hats, and other items branded with the event's corporate sponsors. The lead-up to midnight features a program of entertainment, including musical performances. Some of these performances are organized and televised by New Year's Eve television specials broadcasting from Times Square, such as ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve —which first began featuring live headliners in 2005–06.

The climax of the festivities is the drop itself, which begins at 11:59:00 p.m. ET. Officially, the drop is activated from a control room within One Times Square, synchronized using an National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) time signal received via satellite; a ceremonial button is pressed on-stage by the mayor of New York City and/or invited dignitaries.

At the conclusion of the drop, a numeral sign indicating the new year is illuminated, and a fireworks show is launched from the roof of One Times Square; the fireworks are presently backed by a medley of songs, which have traditionally included "Auld Lang Syne" as performed by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, and "Theme from New York, New York" as performed by Frank Sinatra, among others.

At least of confetti are dropped in Times Square at midnight, overseen since 1992 by Treb Heining—a professional balloon artist who has directed confetti and balloon drops at other major U.S. events such as the presidential nominating conventions. It is thrown by a team of 100 volunteers (referred to internally by Heining as "confetti dispersal engineers") lining the rooftops of eight Times Square buildings. Treb developed the event's signature "blizzard" effect, using larger confetti pieces better-suited to the outdoor environment. Since 2007–08, some of the pieces have been inscribed with messages of hope for the new year, which are submitted through a public "Wishing Wall" erected in Times Square (where visitors can write messages on them directly), and the Times Square website.

Special guests

Ceremonial button Since 1996, the drop has often been ceremonially "activated" on-stage by one or more dignitaries, accompanied by the current mayor of New York City, who are selected to recognize their community involvement or significance. 1996–97: Philanthropist Oseola McCarty 1997–98: A group of five winners from a school essay contest honoring the centennial of the City of Greater New York 1998–99: Sang Lan, a Chinese gymnast who was injured during the 1998 Goodwill Games and was being rehabilitated in New York City. 1999–2000: Mary Ann Hopkins from Doctors Without Borders 2000–01: Muhammad Ali 2001–02: Judith Nathan, future wife of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. 2002–03: Actors Christopher and Dana Reeve 2003–04: Shoshana Johnson, the first black female prisoner of war in the military history of the United States, and Cyndi Lauper. 2004–05: Secretary of State Colin Powell 2005–06: Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis 2006–07: A group of ten United States Armed Forces members 2007–08: Iraq War veteran and New York City Police Academy valedictorian Karolina Wierzchowska 2008–09: Bill and Hillary Clinton 2009–10: Twelve students from New York City high schools on the Gold Medal List of the U.S. News & World Reports "America's Best High Schools" rankings. 2010–11: United States Army staff sergeant Salvatore Giunta 2011–12: Lady Gaga 2012–13: The Radio City Rockettes 2013–14: Supreme Court associate justice Sonia Sotomayor. Outgoing mayor Michael Bloomberg declined to attend. 2014–15: Four representatives from the International Rescue Committee, joined by actor and Latin pop singer Jencarlos Canela 2015–16: Hugh Evans, co-founder of Oaktree and Global Citizen 2016–17: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; the event was his final act as UN Secretary-General, as António Guterres took office on January 1, 2017. 2017–18: Tarana Burke, civil rights activist and founder of the #MeToo movement 2018–19: Journalists Karen Attiah, Rebecca Blumenstein, Alisyn Camerota, Vladimir Duthiers, Edward Felsenthal, Lester Holt, Matt Murray, Martha Raddatz, Maria Ressa, Jon Scott, and Karen Toulon, joined by Joel Simon—executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. 2019–20: New York City high school teachers Jared Fox and Aida Rosenbaum—recipients of the 11th annual Sloan Awards for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics, and four of their students. 2020–21: Chirlane McCray, wife of Mayor Bill de Blasio. 2021–22: Broadway actors Michael James Scott, Mary Claire King, and Ben Crawford. Due to social distancing measures, the guests did not press the button with the mayor. 2022–23: No guest 2023–24: Ali Krieger, Kelley O'Hara, and Midge Purce of Gotham FC, the 2023 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) champions. 2024–25: No guest 2025–26: United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed. 2026–27: TBA

"Imagine" performance Starting with the 2005–06 edition of the event, the drop has been directly preceded by the playing of "Imagine" by John Lennon at 11:55 p.m; since 2010–11, the song has been performed live by the headlining artist: 2010–11: Taio Cruz 2011–12: CeeLo Green 2012–13: Train 2013–14: Melissa Etheridge 2014–15: O.A.R. 2015–16: Jessie J 2016–17: Rachel Platten 2017–18: Andy Grammer 2018–19: Bebe Rexha 2019–20: X Ambassadors 2020–21: Andra Day 2021–22: KT Tunstall 2022–23: Chelsea Cutler 2023–24: Paul Anka 2024–25: Mickey Guyton2025–26: Tones and I 2026–27''': TBA

Mayoral inaugurations Since the practice was established, attending and "activating" the ball drop has occasionally been the final act performed by an outgoing mayor of New York City, as the mayor-elect's term officially begins at midnight on January 1. Two mayors— Michael Bloomberg (2002) and Eric Adams (2022)—have also held their inauguration ceremonies (including the oath of office and inaugural address) on-stage in Times Square following the drop.

In 2014, neither the outgoing or incoming mayor were present: Bloomberg chose to spend New Year's Eve with his family, while Bill de Blasio held his inauguration ceremony the following morning at Gracie Mansion instead.

In 2026, Adams participated in the ball drop in his final act as mayor, while mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani held his inauguration in a separate event at the historic City Hall subway station shortly after midnight.

Cleanup

After the conclusion of the festivities and the dispersal of attendees, cleanup is performed overnight to remove confetti and other debris from Times Square. When it is re-opened to the public the following morning, few traces of the previous night's celebration remain: following the 2013–14 event, the New York City Department of Sanitation estimated that it had cleared over 50 tons of trash from Times Square in eight hours, using 190 workers from their own crews and the Times Square Alliance.

History

Early celebrations, first and second balls (1904–1955) The first New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square was held on December 31, 1904; The New York Times owner, Adolph Ochs, decided to celebrate the opening of the newspaper's new headquarters, One Times Square, with a midnight fireworks show on the southern roof of the building to welcome 1905. Close to 200,000 people attended the event, displacing traditional celebrations that had normally been held at Trinity Church. However, following several years of fireworks shows, and the city banning the fireworks from being launched directly over the crowd due to safety concerns, Ochs wanted a bigger spectacle at the building. The newspaper's chief electrician, Walter F. Palmer, suggested using a time ball, after seeing one used on the Western Union Telegraph Building near Trinity Church.