I won't be in Times Square tonight when the ball drops.

Listening to the Talking Heads on the Mainstream News today, I couldn't help thinking that tonight Times Square could surpass the deepest level in Dante's Inferno. Even if nothing bad happens.

Two million people (or one million, or maybe only a hundred thousand, depending on who you listen to) packed like cattle into Times Square.

In the rain. In the cold wet rain. No umbrellas allowed.

No food vendors. No rest rooms. No chairs. No coolers, packages or bundles of any kind.

Everybody goes in through the metal-detectors, and it's a one-way trip. Once you go in, you don't come back out again until the festivities are over--12 hours later.

By all means, come early and find the best place to stand. And stand. And stand. And stand.

Wave to the 7,000 police officers, and their canine companions, and smile for the drone (or drones) flying overhead.

They will all do their very best to keep you safe.

And if there's a panic, try hard not to get trampled into mush.

Recap: Lottsa people, packed tighter than a Minibus headed for the World Sumo Championships. And no exits.

If that's not a prime terrorist target, I've never seen one. It's a disaster just waiting to happen.

And it could happen a lot of ways.

Here's just one. A cheap, simple, and highly effective one.

Take ten terrorists and infiltrate the crowd. No guns needed. Just have each one carry a few
garlic-braids of good ole' fashioned cherry bombs, say 30 in each braid, and a nice flickable Bic.

Or a really zippy Zippo.

They all spread out in the crowd for maximum effect.

As the Ball starts it's countdown, they start lighting and dropping the strings.

Light, drop, step away. Repeat

The crowd will "hear" automatic weapons fire from multiple attackers, panic, and run for their lives.

Thousands will get trampled or crushed to death in the stampede. Many more will be seriously injured.

End of party.

And if something like that happened, it would probably be the end of a New Year's tradition, too.

I don't plan to be there, and I don't want to watch, either.

If something bad happens, I'm sure the MSM will rerun it a million times while blaming it on Trump. And the Right's resistance to gun control, which would also be his fault.

 

To many people for my taste

 

Times Square really isn't very big and not much to do there either except get a good hot dog from the street cart vendor and look at the Father Duffy statue. Giant TVs and scrolling marquees on buildings, yawn.....

You can forget me standing in the rain with a bunch of frustrated drunks jostling each other to keep a position in the crowd. I wouldn't wait 12 hours in the rain with a mob to watch the Statue of Liberty hike her skirts and piss on NYC.

 

Not in a New York Minute

 

It is like any concert or event you go to, people packed in like cows. I would not go away ways because that is not a me-type event. Terrible music and a bunch of people using it as an excuse to get drunk and act stupid. @UncleMorgan is correct, it is a prime terrorist target.

Best New Years I had was the year we went ice skating on a pond at the golf course then toasted the New Years with hot chocolate.

 

Modern US is a terrorist dream and improving every year. More and more sheep crowded in ever tighter spaces with ever increasing searches to remove any way of defending yourself and ever increasing limits on the ability to safely exit in case something does happen. The major fails, .9-.11, various night club shootings, concert shootings, school shootings, etc, have all occurred with the bad actors not going thru the screening. With an individual either outside or using force or deceit to pass thru the check points, all they do is restrict your movement and hinder your retreat. I see individuals checked going into the court house, checking belt buckles, keys, watches, x.-raying bags, etc, then I legally take 400 lbs of construction supplies thru the back entrance and have a bored individual look at my drivers license and the delivery sheet and be more upset about parking spaces than security. An electric air compressor with a 20 gal tank and wheels would safely hold many pound of explosives and packing a few cases of sheet rock screws around it would make it interesting, well the skid I took in with a pallet jack had everything but the explosives and the bags of sheet rock compound could of been anything. Stay away from crowds, they attract people, are a perfect way to catch some disease, natural or supplied, and getting into and out of them can always be a major threat. Biggest killers lately have been transportation related, train wrecks or bombings, trucks running over people, ferry sinking's, air plane crashes, tsunamis, etc, or crowd related where you couldn't leave. Not much you can do about water, but staying away from the rest is the best idea.

 

Big blowout in the neighborhood as always on NYE, Lil cooking a few adult beverages,Fireworks for the kids both big and small.

 

This was all being said last year about the terrorist thing . Thankfully nothing happened then , and hopefully nothing will happen this year . I wouldn't go if I was the only one there !!

 

I have no doubt that our butts will be in bed and asleep long before midnight.

 

Terrorist, rioters and most protestors have stopped their activities once Trump took office. Notice the black lives matters people have crawled into a hole and no peep for them. As for terrorists, I believe they are concentrating on Europe.

 

Agreed. This President is more reactionary than any in a long time and would love to make examples. The Old West photo-in-a-casket type examples....

 

I try to turn in early, but the fireworks make it sound like a bad night in El Anbar...

 

I never did El Anbar , but I'm assuming it was similar to Beruit in the 80s,,,

 

I won't know it's new years until I wake up sometime tomorrow morning. Rain here should reduce fireworks and the guy down the road from pulling out his class 3 so it'll come in like a wet lamb.

 

The worst is after a big soccer game or a big wedding. Lots of .30 cal rain....

My son once described the average hadji having the same grasp of physics as a 12 Y/O...maybe.

 

I believe I would have to agree with him on that . Might have something to do with all of their inbreeding .

 

Ahhhh! It was great.

After playing with fire and watching all the pretty colors, I enjoyed some ultra-quality time with the family and then toddled off to sleep.

Every day should include Christmas lights and fireworks. And sharing.

I don't know about the Other Half, but my New Year is off to a great start already.

 

I avoid crowd's as well. If something does go south I'm close to my fireworks!