The New York City location of the famous New Year's Eve ball drop tradition is Times Square.
Times Square is the large commercial and entertainment district at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Its electric signs, theaters, and dense pedestrian crowds made it a natural setting for a highly visible public New Year's celebration. The ball descends from One Times Square, the building formerly known as the New York Times Building.
The first ball drop took place in 1907. It replaced fireworks at nearby Trinity Church after New York City authorities prohibited fireworks in the area. The event continued to grow through radio, television, and later online broadcasts, turning a local gathering into a worldwide media spectacle.
The square was originally called Longacre Square and was renamed Times Square in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters there. The name is therefore tied to the newspaper's history, not to the calendar or to a generic city square.