Posted on 12/31/2005 7:58:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK - Thousands of New Year's Eve revelers ignored the sleet and snow and packed into Times Square with their "2006" glasses, waving balloons and working noisemakers for the famous ball drop and countdown of the final minutes of 2005.
"I love my spot!" said an excited Linda Smith, who had secured a prime view before noon after taking a bus from Columbus, Ohio, for the celebration.
Fireworks burst above the square at 6 p.m. when the 1,070-pound Waterford crystal ball was raised.
In Boston, ice sculptures, parades, parties and fireworks kicked off the annual First Night celebrations.
Tyler Landergren, 14, joined the early crowds on Boston Common, a stocking cap pulled down past his eyebrows and a $5 plastic horn in hand.
"It's a very happy night — 2006!" yelled Landergren, an eighth-grader from Gloucester. He puffed his cheeks and blew hard on the horn, letting loose a long, low rumble.
Forecasters predicted 2 to 4 inches of snow in the city, with lows in the 20s, but partygoers were still in the spirit.
"I'd take snow over rain any day," said reveler Ryan Angelopolus, 27, whose "2006" glasses lit up to mark the night. As merchants pointed out, the specs could be turned upside down and used again in 9005.
The theme in Boston was Mardi Gras, in honor of hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. The "Spirit of New Orleans" parade featured carnival masks, and jazz bands joined in.
New Orleans itself celebrated with a traditionally festive jazz funeral procession in memory of the hurricane victims. The city decided to welcome the New Year with fireworks, concerts and a tongue-in-cheek lowering of a giant gumbo pot to mark the start of 2006.
"We're getting into the spirit," said Sharif Nadir, a 59-year-old writer who joined in. "I just hope it puts people into the spirit to rebuild."
Flooding forced Reno, Nev., to move its New Year's Eve fireworks back a day to Monday, but the mayor still promised to lead a countdown.
Las Vegas kept in character — everything to excess — with the Strip's drunken revelry, a mass simultaneous New Year's Eve toast, complete with 14,000 plastic cups and some 200 cases of Chardonnay, and an annual blowout billed as the largest New Year's Eve party outside New York.
Dick Clark was returning to Times Square to host ABC-TV's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" for a worldwide broadcast audience estimated at 1 billion people.
Clark, 76, has missed the celebration only once in 32 years — last year, when he was recovering from a stroke and Regis Philbin filled in.
Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was a guest of honor to welcome 2006, along with city workers who joined in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans. Together, they were invited to start the one-minute descent of the Time Square ball.
___
Associated Press writers Andrew Ryan in Boston, Cain Burdeau in New Orleans and Kathleen Hennessey in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
Rivelli Romauld of Brussels, Belgium, celebrates during the countdown to the New Year in New York's Times Square while his friends wave balloons, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005 in New York. Nearly 1 million people are expected to pack Times Square. (AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek)
Ronny Little of Shelby, North Carolina dons his New Year's glasses as he waits for the Peach Drop in Underground Atlanta, Georgia December 31, 2005. Atlanta hosted the Peach Bowl and is also hosting the Sugar Bowl along with the usual New Year's eve festivities. REUTERS/Tami Chappell
New York City Police Detective Ayanna Giddens-Moree wears a pair of '2006' glasses while patrolling in New York's Times Square, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005. Nearly one million people were expected to pack Times Square. (AP Photos/Henny Ray Abrams)
Nearly 1 million people are expected to pack Times Square.
All of them wearing big targets.
INsanity.
Revealers use cameras to capture the fireworks that flash above Sydney Harbour bridge and Opera House during New Year celebrations in Australia's largest city, Sydney, early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Fireworks go off at the stroke of midnight signifying the start of the year 2006 at the Marina Bay area, Sunday Jan. 1, 2006 in Singapore. In a New Year's Day message delivered by the city-state's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporeans were urged to continue in their efforts to building a vibrant global city, a land of opportunity, an inclusive society and a cohesive nation. He also announced that the Singapore economy has grown by 5.7% in 2005, better than expected.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-e)
Children on Dolphin Point overlooking Coogee Beach watch the early New Year's Eve fireworks display for families in Sydney. Fireworks lit up the sky from Sydney to Hong Kong as the cities rang in 2006, kickstarting a night of celebration around the world as revellers bid farewell to a year scarred by violence and natural disasters.(AFP/Torsten Blackwood)
Indian man Kamlesh Nanda wears make up featuring a display Indian and Pakistani flags and a 'Happy New Year' hat in Amritsar, as he welcomes in the New Year 2006. Fireworks lit up the sky from Sydney to Hong Kong as the cities rang in 2006, kickstarting a night of celebration around the world as revellers bid farewell to a year scarred by violence and natural disasters.(AFP/Narinder Nanu)
A car with a Menorah passes by the Eiffel tower as revellers celebrate the New Year in Paris January 1, 2006. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Hundreds of people celebrate the New Year in the Warsaw's Castle Square in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006, a few seconds after midnight. Some 4.000 people gathered in the square to see in 2006. ( AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Happy New Year, Norm. You tirelessly bring a lot of information and really interesting visuals to FR threads......and it's appreciated.
Hope we see you on Time magazine's cover as Man of the Year!
Leni
My pleasure, Ma'am. :)
Happy New Year!
Geri Guardino, executive director of Boston's First Night, makes her way down Boylston Street in Boston at the start of the First Night parade, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005. Officials are expecting one million people to attend First Night festivities in Boston. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)
It is SO disconcerting to read an article about something that hasn't happened yet...but uses the past tense throughout...
I want to thank you for the pictures also...
The news guy on Fox remarked tonight, in a surprised tone...that this is the ONLY holiday that the whole world celebrates.
Man, someone has GOT to photoshop those glasses on hillery!
Dean and the rest.
All of them wearing big targets.
INsanity.
---
They got cover. ;-)
Yes, I know they weld the manholes closed but how many
years can one expect the fanatics to pass up such a target
rich enviroment.
Jackie, a Jack-Russell Terrier, wears one of the party favors while being held by his owners Roger and Michelle Caram-Andreut, right, of Lakeland, Fla. during the countdown to the New Year in New York's Times Square, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
A crowd looks at an ice sculpture titled 'Imagination,' created by Steve Rose and David Peterson of Ice Effects, during First Night, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005, in Boston. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)
Steve Hudak, front left, tips his drum to pour the water off the top as he and other members of the Old Barracks Fife & Drum Corps march along West State Street in the rain during part of the re-enactment of the Revolutionary War's Battle of Trenton, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2005, in Trenton, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
A message is projected onto the Shell building after fireworks lit up the London Eye to welcome in the New Year. Londoners took to the streets to celebrate the arrival of 2006 vowing to have a good time at the end of a year that saw the highs of Olympic glory and the lows of terror bombings(AFP/John D McHugh)
Russians celebrate New Year on Red Square in Moscow, with St. Basil's cathedral, left, and the Kremlin's Spasky tower, right, in the background, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006. Tens of thousands of people gathered on Red Square to see in the new year, shooting fireworks and cheering as the clock on the Kremlin's Spassky Tower struck midnight. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
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