One Times Square was the first host building for the New Year’s Eve ball drop tradition in Times Square.
The first Times Square Ball descended on December 31, 1907, from the flagpole atop the headquarters of The New York Times. That building, originally known as the Times Building, is now called One Times Square. The newspaper’s move helped establish the name “Times Square” for the surrounding area.
The ball drop replaced a fireworks display that had been used to celebrate the New Year. The illuminated time-ball idea drew on older maritime and astronomical time-ball traditions, in which a ball dropped at a precise time helped observers set clocks.
The building has undergone substantial changes, but its association with the ceremony remains. The ball is now lowered from a structure on One Times Square, while much of the building’s surface is covered with digital advertising. It is not the Empire State Building, despite that skyscraper’s fame as another New York landmark.