Times Square’s iconic New Year’s Eve ball is retired
Photo by Alex Lozupone via WikiCommons
After 17 years of ringing in the new year, the New Year’s Eve ball in Times Square is hanging up its crystal hat. The ball, which has been in use since 2008, was officially retired on Wednesday due to its “antiquated” lighting system, the New York Times reported. The ball—along with its predecessors—will be on display this fall in a new “time travel history experience” inside the newly revamped One Times Square. A replacement ball is already in production, according to Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown, the real estate firm that owns One Times Square.
Designed by Focus Lighting, the ball includes 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles attached to nearly 700 LED modules, which can display a palette of more than 16 million colors, as 6sqft previously reported. The ball weighs almost 12,000 pounds and is 12 feet wide.
In the past, retired New Year’s Eve balls were tucked away in the subbasement of One Times Square. Now, these balls—and the one retired on Wednesday—will become part of an engaging “time travel” experience opening in the fall across four floors in the newly modernized building.
Featured New Year’s Eve balls include one used from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s, which has resided in Jamestown’s office. Over the years, the ball underwent several makeovers, including being transformed into an apple in the 1980s and adorned with rhinestones in the 1990s, according to the Times.
One Times Square is undergoing a $500 million redevelopment that turning the building into a year-round entertainment hub with a visitors center, a viewing deck overlooking Times Square, a museum, and more. The building, which topped out in December 2023, is scheduled to open this year.
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