New York City was the first city to celebrate New Year's Eve with the famous televised Times Square ball drop.
The Times Square ball drop began in New York City on December 31, 1907. Adolph Ochs, publisher of The New York Times, wanted a dramatic New Year's celebration for the area outside the newspaper's new headquarters at One Times Square. The event replaced fireworks that had previously been used there and introduced a visual countdown that could be seen by large crowds.
Television later transformed the local event into an international ritual. Broadcast coverage made the descent, the crowd, and the midnight celebration familiar to viewers far beyond Manhattan. The ball itself changed in design, becoming larger, brighter, and more technologically sophisticated while preserving the basic lowering ceremony.
The first event was not originally a television broadcast; television did not yet exist. The precise historical fact is that New York City originated the ball-drop tradition in 1907, while later radio and television coverage spread its image worldwide. This distinction avoids confusing the invention of the ceremony with its later media popularity.