Plan A: Watching from the street.
Our apartment entrance is only a few dozen feet away from a straight shot view of the drop from 7th Avenue but our apartment is not on the 7th Avenue side. So while we could get a great view of the crowd and hear all of the action, we would not be able to see the event itself from our windows. Neither of us is too crazy about crowds let alone being in a crowd of a million. They expected to cordon off our cross street around 6PM with barricades and check points. From that point forward you cannot leave the secure area and return, you are stuck. There are no restrooms available and no drinking allowed. That option did not appeal to us very much. REJECTED.
Plan B: Watching Central Park fireworks from our roof.
At midnight there is also a huge fireworks display at Central Park. This lasts more than twenty minutes and is put on by the most famous fireworks family/company in the world. The Grucci Family has been in the business since 1850 and contracts for most major displays worldwide and everything in New York City. This sounded like a better idea as we could go to our rooftop on the 39th floor with no problems. Wine, warmth, and restroom, at the apartment. Perfect. But then on Thursday we got a notice from the building management that the roof was off limits due to safety concerns and it would be strictly monitored. THWARTED.
Plan C: Begging for balcony space on 7th Avenue.
The week before New Year’s Eve I composed and printed a short note asking if someone with an apartment on the west side with a balcony might not let an extra couple into their home for ten minutes near midnight. Toni strongly discouraged this idea as a futile waste of time but we posted it on the laundry room bulletin board anyway. There was no response from any of the 36 balconied apartment dwellers and on Thursday Toni gave up and took it down. FAILED.
We were now out of plans and resigned to simply throwing open a window as midnight approached and enjoy being on the fringe of the big event. Then, at nearly 4:30PM we received an unbelievable phone call. The caller was a neighbor in the building. She had seen our note in the laundry room and invited us to share her view for the evening. She was not having a party, we were her only guests. She also happened to live in the penthouse on the 39th floor! We arrived promptly at 11:30 and the door was open. She greeted us and after introducing ourselves she opened a bottle of champagne and we were offered her own homemade Holiday cookies. We were needless to say wide eyed and practically in tears at our great luck. Her balcony extends the entire length of the 7th Avenue side of the building with outstanding views of both Times Square AND Central Park. SUCCESS.
I am including some photos and a video. The video requires some explanation. My memory card filled up before the finale but I found a great video, the second one below, of just the finale up close.
The apartment itself is worthy of a separate post so that will be next time. It goes without saying that it will be impossible to top this New Year’s celebration.
I am so jealous but so thrilled that you two had the experience of a lifetime! I will always think of you two when we watch the ball drop each New Year's Eve. It was great hearing Toni's laugh in the background. I miss you guys.
ReplyDeleteJanice