At New York City's New Year's Eve celebration, the illuminated ball descends from One Times Square.
One Times Square is the tall building at the southern end of Times Square in Manhattan. Its prominent position and large advertising displays made it a natural location for the midnight ceremony, which began in 1907 as a celebration organized by the newspaper The New York Times.
The building was originally constructed for The New York Times, whose offices moved there in 1905. The newspaper later relocated, but the name and association with the annual celebration remained. The ball is lowered along a pole on the building's roof during the final minute of the year.
A common mix-up is to identify Times Square itself as the building. Times Square is the surrounding public area; One Times Square is the specific structure from which the ball drops. The event is also often called the Times Square Ball Drop.