I sometimes really miss New York, Modern Philosophers. You can take the Modern Philosopher out of Brooklyn, but you can’t quite take the Brooklyn accent out of the Modern Philosopher.
If you don’t believe me, you should ask me to recite the following sentence the next time you see me: “I’d like to order some water for my daughter, Dawn”. It’s painful…
So I was quite thrilled when one of the interns interrupted my breakfast to bring me a story about the Big Apple fresh off The House on the Hill’s ticker tape.
Looks like the traditional New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square might have to be postponed until Friday, January 3, because the NYPD has received numerous noise complaints from area residents.
“It’s a Tuesday night,” Ira Bushbaum, 78, explained to this Modern Philosopher when I called her about the complaint she filed. “I don’t care if the next day is a holiday. I still need my sleep. I have a Wednesday morning routine that I have to wake up for whether it’s a work day or not. These kids and their crazy rock and roll!”
Mrs. Bushbaum talked for quite some time, and I politely listened because the nuns raised me that way. When she finally hung up, I called City Hall for a comment.
“As you know, Mayor Bloomberg is on his way out of office,” a member of his Public Affairs office told me when I called. “He doesn’t really care either way if the ball drop happens on Tuesday night, or on Friday. To be perfectly honest, the Mayor is out of the country.”
My call to the Police Department didn’t get me much new information. “The NYPD is well aware that the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square is an annual tradition, but the citizens who lodged complaints do have a point and a right to be heard. Either way, we’ll still spend Wednesday morning rousting drunks out of Times Square, but at least this time, they might not be buried under confetti.”
Wanting to get some public opinion for this post, I made random phone calls to the five boroughs. I was subjected to a lot of hang ups, cursing, accents that made me homesick, and long rants about the sorry states of the Giants, Jets, and Knicks. I also found out, however, that New Yorkers don’t seem to care when the ball is dropped.
The general consensus was that only “tourists, idiots from New Jersey, and drunk college kids” go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Real New Yorkers celebrate in less densely populated areas (aka bars and homes) and might glance at a TV at midnight to watch the lighted orb make its descent.
I’m glad I put in the time to make those calls because it reminded me that in the 27 years I lived in New York, I never once went to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
I hope they do move the ball drop to Friday night. Real New Yorkers will celebrate the holiday the same way they always do. The rest of the world will just have to adapt.
I miss New York…
The Return of the Modern Philosopher 
That brought back the memory of visiting family in NYC about a year after my husband died (he was from Brooklyn). We went to see the ball drop. I had no idea what that meant, only that it was a New Year’s tradition. My children were 6 and 8 at the time. Once the ball dropped, the sea of people began a wave toward us. People pressed at my back to make me move faster and I was worried my children would be trampled. Fortunately, we weren’t in the middle of the sea and could inch our way toward the shops at the sidelines. We stayed in an all-night pizza place until it was safe to go back out again.
I don’t remember any other New Years celebration as clearly as that one, and can tell you I don’t want to do it again. For the past few decades, my idea of celebrating the new years is sleeping through it. 🙂
Ir’s crazy to go out there with all those people.
From what part of Brooklyn was your hubby?
The only thing I remember about it was that his father had a deli on the first floor and the family lived in an apartment in the same building. I can’t remember where the building was located. I don’t know much about NYC and have only been there about 3 times in my life.
I know that place… 😉
Have I mentioned I get a kick out of the twists and turns your brain takes? LOL!
Thank you! Always nice to hear. Thank again for mentioning my blog in your post today!
My pleasure. Hope you get a chance to check out some of the other blogs…and if you do, tell them Kitt sent you. 🙂
Will they think I mean the talking car from Knight Rider if I say that???
Bwahahaha! It’s a distinct possibility, but that would be pretty awesomesauce, too, so I’m good with it. 😉
Born in Brooklyn, raised on LawnGuyland, still looked at funny for my accent after 30 years in Syracuse. I’m wit yoose. Watch the bawl drop on TV.
That is why they put the thing on TV, am I right??? 🙂
My youngest sister went there from LI one year and here was her take on it:
There’s no place to take a pee.
Yup, TV.
She sounds very wise…a Modern Philosopher for sure. 🙂
You know you’re going to rile a bunch of halfwits up now right, because they will believe this like they do all your other posts? 😛
Only 20 people have read it, so it won’t be a problem unless people start to share it. My blog has been a ghost town since Christmas. Where did everyone go???
Haven’t you heard?
The WP likes are acting up again. People are hitting like but it’s not registering or WP is losing them…either way. I went through over 200 posts yesterday, reading and liking. It took me a few hours trying to catch up…and now today.. every single one of those still say I didn’t like them. It’s frustrating and no way am I re-doing it.
I’m getting more likes on some posts than total hits for the post. If 20 people like it, the dashboard said 10 people read it. Very odd. I’ve only had like 300 views today when I normally have around 700…
Apparently WP is having some issues, and seriously need to get them in check. You have a lot of influence, maybe you should stir them up. 😀
Ha! They don’t know who I am. 🙂
Everyone knows that NYC drops the ball and Oriental has the croaker drop. Clay’s Corner will once again celebrate with a possum drop due to a recent court ruling. What drops in Maine? Perhaps the premium on friction precludes gravitational demonstrations for the New Year?
They actually drop o giant beach ball covered in Christmas lights off a building in downtown Bangor. The late night show I just starting writing for is streaming a live show from the site tonight. You can check it out at wabitv.com. Happy New Year!
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