That one time I went to Times Square on New Years Eve

Dan here...So Steph wanted me to share about the one time I went to the New Years Eve in Times Square.

In 2010 my brother, Sam, came to Brooklyn for Christmas and stayed through New Years (2011). He wanted to do New Years at Times Square.  I had never done it before and we decided we would go all in.

I had spoken with several people and all of them said you have to get there early so we took the train from Bay Ridge to Times Square and arrived around 1pm in the afternoon that day.

Something you might not know from watching the celebration on TV is that you can't stand where you want.  The NYPD sets out metal gates to make into pens and check everyone that goes into the pen for security.  We ended up making it into a pen around 2pm right by the Toys R Us store and one block from where the ball drops.

Once you are in your pen you can't leave, they won't let you back in. You can't leave to go get food, you can't leave to got to the bathroom.  Nothing, you're stuck.  A Domino's pizza guy did walk the crowd around 8pm offering a small pizza for $20.  Delivery at a premium.

We had to wait in the pen until 7pm or 8pm when the festivities really started and singers got on the stages.  We had nothing to occupy the time before then so if you ever go make sure you bring a DVD player or something.  Sam had a great idea to have other people in the pen with us sign an "I [heart] NY" t-shirt.  He brought a sharpie marker and people signed their name and where they were from.  We met people from Florida, California, China, Iran, Peru and many others.

Later in the evening someone came around and passed out the foam hats and the inflatable stick things you see people with on TV.  When the ball dropped it looked really tiny from the ground and all the confetti just appeared.   It was SO LOUD when the countdown started and afterwards people were all hugging and kissing.  

It was a once in a lifetime experience and very exciting to be right in the center of such a well-known event.  We had a good time but it was extremely uncomfortable standing on asphalt for 10 plus hours and not being able to move around much or leave.

It was a fun way to ring in 2011.

And now it's 2016!! Wow!   So if you ever come to New York for New Years Eve, make sure you know what you getting yourself into!  It's a memory making occasion for sure.   

Sam on the left and Dan on the right