Ringing in the New Year

Sounds like the 100th New Year’s Eve in Times Square went well — at least according to the Times, which was on hand to sketch a scene full of sawhorses, dropped balls, flashed abdomens and the occasional transvestite:

Last night, 100 years after the first organized New Year’s celebration in Times Square, close to 1 million people crowded Times Square to welcome 2005.

The weather was unusual. The temperature at midnight was 50 degrees, and there was no rain, sleet or snow, just showers of confetti.

At midnight, with blizzards of plastic rainbow confetti erupting from the tops of skyscrapers, police officers lit cigars and flipped open their cellphones to call loved ones. Couples kissed, and on the main stage, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who pressed a button that dropped the ball, locked arms and swayed awkwardly to Frank Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York.”

The lines of police barriers overtook car lanes, becoming a maze that corralled an unexpectedly large number of revelers – one officer said there appeared to be more than 750,000 there to watch the ball drop.

Old-timers grumbled, recalling the years when sawhorses were fewer and when onlookers were allowed to flood Times Square without having to leave lanes open for satellite trucks and V.I.P.’s whom nobody recognized.

Or years when it was so cold that only the truly courageous proved themselves by enduring five hours crushed between barriers like ice cubes in a metal tray.

Cue hapless tourists:

Among those on hand was David Pepsny, a carpenter, who found himself crushed into a crowd that had mushroomed suddenly at Eighth Avenue and 49th Street about 5 p.m.

After an 11-hour drive from his hometown, Ashland, Ohio, Mr. Pepsny and two friends had arrived in what they thought was New York City. Actually, they were in Jersey City, but just a short while later, they reached their destination, the Ramada Inn at Kennedy Airport.

“Our hotel lady was kind of laughing at us,” Mr. Pepsny said.

. . .

Another Ohioan, Nate Thobaben, a West Point cadet, lifted his shirt and flashed his abdomen at young women nearby.

Mr. Thobaben, 19, said he was only trying to cool off.

“It’s really warm, but then again I’m from Ohio and we already got 10 inches of snow in one night,” he said.

Of course, it’s not a Times article without noting how the other half lives:

Ringing in the year in Times Square was not for everyone.

Miss Trixie, a transsexual who said she was an actress between jobs, was on Avenue of the Americas in Greenwich Village talking about how she had been sober for 49 days and was determined to make it 50. She said she was returning to Brooklyn as soon as she finished hustling for small change.

“Old people and old places,” she said about Times Square, a veneer of 5 o’clock shadow showing through her made-up face. “People and places you want to stay away from.

“My goal in 2005 is to be a productive citizen in society working for some establishment in New York City.”

She rattled the coins in her Taco Bell cup as people walked by.

On an E train to Parsons Boulevard, in Queens, with a few hours left in 2004, Gerardo Rivas, 29, pulled off his royal blue jacket and settled onto a bench seat.

Mr. Rivas, who moved to New York from Mexico four years ago, was going home to his apartment to spend New Year’s Eve with his wife and two children.

His youngest, a boy, was born in 2004. Mr. Rivas, who said he was grateful for his new life in the city, gave him an American name: Steve.

Mr. Rivas said he was also staying home to get a good night’s sleep before going to work in the morning. His goal in 2005 was to provide more for his family.

Then the train pulled away from 50th Street, pulling him toward the new year.

And with that, we give thanks for what we have and look forward to a happy, healthy and productive new year.