The less-than-stellar weather didn’t deter Times Square visitors from telling 2024 to take a hike on Saturday, the 18th annual “Good Riddance Day.”
Days before Times Square ushers in the new year, New Yorkers and tourists jotted down the ugly memories that plagued them in 2024—from breakups to health issues, from toxic relationships to bedbugs and more—on a chalkboard, which they then erased with the swipe of a sponge.
For the first time, the messages were also displayed on one of the 148-foot-tall digital billboards lining the exterior of One Times Square before vanishing into the ether to ensure the bad memories were erased for good.
Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, and host Jonathan Bennett kicked off the event in the “Crossroads of the World.” Harris said good riddance to political strive because he felt, “We’ve had enough political strife over the last couple of years. It’s time to move forward and truly be the United States of America.”
Many attendees hoped to start 2025 with a clean slate, like Bronxite Sarah Roman, who said goodbye to a “toxic high-maintenance friendship.” Roman told amNewYork Metro that while it hurt to end a friendship of over 10 years, she needed to cast aside a “friend” who bullied and made fun of her.
“It stressed me out way too much,” Roman said. “A good friend, it’s a two-way street. It’s not always just about the other person. It’s just like you went through a bad breakup, and then it’s just sad. But I needed to do what was right for myself and make me happy.”
Armando Ramos, also from the Boogie Down Bronx, said bon voyage to the “college era.” Ramos started college in 2008 and graduated from CUNY School of Professional Studies in 2024 with a communications and media degree and a 3.48 GPA.
“We finally did, trying to get a job, [and] get rid of that student loan debt,” Ramos declared proudly. “Slow and steady wins the race. But in New York City, college is very unaffordable for those of us in the outer boroughs. Now we’re gonna work on that debt.”
Brooklynite Laura said goodbye to bedbugs, loud neighbors, a lousy job, loss, and sadness.
“Right after I lost someone, while I was at that funeral, basically, I got bed bugs. And so I came home, I was covered. It was just insane,” Laura told amNewYork Metro. “And so, yeah, I had to deal with it for a month and a half right afterward.”
Laura shared that lots of therapy helped her through the tough times. She got rid of the bedbugs, found a new job, and was able to negotiate with her downstairs neighbors, a pizza parlor, to keep the noise down.
“Hopefully, I don’t lose anyone this year, [but] things are good. I feel quite much happier already,” Laura said.
It isn’t too late to banish the ugly memories of 2024. People can submit their Good Riddance Day messages online on the One Times Square website, onetimessquare.com, and their submissions will be displayed on the billboard.
David Wilkins, founder and CEO of Zenapptic.ai, built the Good Riddance application.
Wilkins told amNewYork Metro that it was “amazing” to be part of the event.
“It’s just a great use of our technology [and] our software,” said Wilkins, explaining that the application was AI-driven. “All the messages are going through AI. We’re filtering them, and we’re bringing them in. We’re getting messages from all around the world, and they all go up, and they get digitally destroyed. So it’s really exciting.”
