<P> Times Square is the site of the annual New Year's Eve ball drop . About one million revelers crowd Times Square for the New Year's Eve celebrations, more than twice the usual number of visitors the area usually receives daily . However, for the millennium celebration on December 31, 1999, published reports stated approximately two million people overflowed Times Square, flowing from 6th Avenue to 8th Avenue and all the way back on Broadway and Seventh Avenues to 59th Street, making it the largest gathering in Times Square since August 1945 during celebrations marking the end of World War II . </P> <P> On December 31, 1907, a ball signifying New Year's Day was first dropped at Times Square, and the Square has held the main New Year's celebration in New York City ever since . On that night, hundreds of thousands of people congregate to watch the Waterford Crystal ball being lowered on a pole atop the building, marking the start of the new year . It replaced a lavish fireworks display from the top of the building that was held from 1904 to 1906, but stopped by city officials because of the danger of fire . Beginning in 1908, and for more than eighty years thereafter, Times Square sign maker Artkraft Strauss was responsible for the ball - lowering . During World War II, a minute of silence, followed by a recording of church bells pealing, replaced the ball drop because of wartime blackout restrictions . Today, Countdown Entertainment and One Times Square handle the New Year's Eve event in conjunction with the Times Square Alliance . </P> <P> A new energy - efficient LED ball debuted for the arrival of 2008, which was the centennial of the Times Square ball drop . The 2008 / 2009 ball was larger and has become a permanent installation as a year - round attraction, being used for celebrations on days such as Valentine's Day and Halloween . </P> <P> The New York City Department of Sanitation estimated that by 8 a.m. on New Year's Day 2014, it had cleared over 50 tons of refuse from the New Year's celebration, using 190 workers from their own crews and the Times Square Alliance . </P>

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