Which 1904 newspaper event helped establish Times Square as a New Year's Eve gathering place?

The opening of the New York Times headquarters helped establish Times Square as a New Year’s Eve gathering place.

The New York Times moved into a new headquarters in the area in 1904, and the surrounding section of Longacre Square was renamed Times Square. To celebrate the building’s opening, the newspaper held a large New Year’s Eve event on December 31, 1904, featuring fireworks at midnight.

That celebration attracted a substantial crowd and made the location a natural focal point for future New Year gatherings. Fireworks were later prohibited there, leading the newspaper to introduce the illuminated ball drop in 1907. The ball tradition outlasted the newspaper’s occupancy of the building and became associated with the place name itself.

The event is sometimes confused with the first ball drop, but they were different milestones: the headquarters celebration occurred in 1904, while the first descending ball appeared three years later. One Times Square still serves as the visual center of the annual countdown.