While New Yorker’s everywhere were disheartened to ring in the year 2021 with minimal festivities and an anticlimactic virtual ball drop — as a consequence of COVID-19 — this year, the celebration will return at “full strength,” according to former Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement made in mid-November, which includes the reintroduction of The Times Square New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall.
The Wall was officially unveiled on Dec. 2, along with new COVID-19 friendly modifications, courtesy of The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, as well as presenting sponsor Planet Fitness.
As the age old question, “what will my New Year’s resolution be?”, returns to the forefront of everyone’s minds, The Wall allows people from around the world to be directly involved in the momentous occasion. Simply submit your resolution or “wish,” and it will be copied onto pieces of confetti and dropped from the sky at midnight in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
“Submitting a confetti wish gives everyone the ability to be part of the magic that happens on New Year’s Eve in Times Square,” said President of Countdown Entertainment, Jeffrey Straus.
From now until December 28, you can submit your resolutions at one of Times Square’s Broadway plazas between 42nd and 47th Street, and join the other 3,000 pounds of confetti wishes. The submission area will also be equipped with hand sanitizer and face masks in order to maintain a safe environment, according to Times Square New Year’s Eve.
However, if leaving the comfort of your home is deterring you from partaking in this spectacular holiday celebration, you now have the ability to submit your wishes online at www.TSQ.org/Wish or www.PlanetFitness.com/confettiwishes, or even on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #ConfettiWish.
“The New Year is a time for people to come together and look ahead with hope for a better future,” said Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance. The spectacle of the confetti, Harris believes, will spark “positivity and joy” in those watching at home or in person in Times Square, encouraging these sentiments to carry over into the new year.
Another addition to the eagerly awaited, famously frigid, celebration this year, is that it will also include a “virtual multi-media experience” via the VYNE app, the Times Square New Year’s Eve team said. The event will be hosted by “Jamestown, the owner of One Times Square”
Individuals from everywhere in the world can access the VYNE app on their smart devices, which will allow them to digitally experience the Times Square festivities, while also playing games and watching the New Year’s Eve events live.
To make up for the scaled-down celebration from last year, why not start 2022 off by becoming apart of New York City history? So, when the clock strikes Midnight on New Year’s Eve, your’s and your loved ones’ wishes for the upcoming year will be unleashed into the cheering streets of Manhattan.
“We will all watch with amazement as a blizzard of confetti blankets the sky filled with the hopes and dreams of people from around the world,” said Strauss.
