NEW YEAR'S EVE BALL OF TIMES SQUARE Remains Lit All Year Round

The new Times Square New Year's Eve ball was relit last week and sent up a 141-foot flagpole on the roof of One Times Square. The ball will remain lit until the next New Year's celebration and even be used to help celebrate other holidays this year. I took this photo last January 10. "This is a New York City landmark now. It's a tourist attraction that people from all over the world will come and see, just like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building," said President Jeffrey Straus of Countdown Entertainment. "When you make your trip to New York and Times Square, your going to take back home a picture of this New Years' Eve ball with 2009 underneath." 
The new Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball is a 12 foot geodesic sphere, double the size of previous Balls, and weighs 11,875 pounds. Covered in 2,668 Waterford Crystals and powered by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDS, the new Ball is capable of creating a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns producing a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square.
WATERFORD CRYSTAL created an exclusive “Let There Be Joy” design for the crystal triangles on the new Ball. Designed and crafted by Waterford artisans in Ireland, “Let There Be Joy” features the design of an angel with arms uplifted welcoming the New Year on each of the 1,728 new crystals. The remaining 960 triangles are last year’s “Let There Be Light” design of a stylized radiating starburst.
"The new 2009 Times Square New Year's Ball represents the perfect blend of time-honored craftsmanship and state of the art technology," says Pete Cheyney, Director of Corporate Communications for Waterford Crystal. "The theme for the Waterford crystals on this year's Ball, "Let There be Joy" reflects our belief that New Year's Eve is a time when happiness and optimism for the future should be at the forefront of everyone's thoughts. We at Waterford consider the Ball to be of our Company's greatest achievements."

COUNTDOWN TO 2009 New York

TOP: The 2009 sign atop One Times Square and the pole sans the famous New Year's Eve Ball. Photo taken 12/27/08.

BOTTOM: The scene in Times Square at 7:14 PM, 12/31/08. The new New Year's Eve Ball atop One Times Square is visible in this photo which I took from 56th Street and 7th Avenue, on our way to the Ziegfeld Theatre to see the new Daniel Craig movie called "Defiance."

Carson Daly makes an appearance at the Today Show to promote NBC's "New Year's Eve with Carson Daly" which will feature a performance by Sir Elton John

Immediately before midnight, a leap second will be added to atomic cloocks around the world by official timekeepers because of the Earth's erratic rotation. Photo of the clocks in front of the TOURNEAU store on 57th Street in Manhattan.

For the first time since its conception, the CHARMIN Restrooms will also be open on New Year's Eve from 12AM to 2AM, offering the crowd of millions in Times Square a safe and accessible bathroom haven after the 2009 ball drops.

Every year as the clock nears midnight on December 31st, the eyes of the world turn once more to the dazzling lights and bustling energy of Times Square. Anticipation runs high. New Year's Eve at the symbolic center of New York City has become more than just a celebration - it's a global tradition. The world holds its breath...and cheers as the clocks strike twelve. As the famous New Year's Eve Ball descends from the flagpole atop One Times Square, an estimated one million people in Times Square, millions nationwide and over a billion watching throughout the world are united in bidding a collective farewell to the departing year, and expressing our joy and hope for the year ahead.(from http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye.html)