New Year’s Eve fireworks in NYC

If you feel like braving the crowds, standing for hours and holding your pee, the Times Square fireworks are an option. Since 1907, a sparkly sphere has been lowered there and has become an item on many people's bucket lists. You'll need to arrive by 3pm (earlier if the weather is nice) to stake out a spot in the Broadway–Seventh Avenue bowtie, and be prepared to stay put because there are no restrooms or food vendors to keep you satisfied. It's the best kind of holiday masochism, and your endurance may be rewarded with performances held across two stages, beginning at 6pm. A burst of pyrotechnics from One Times Square, every hour on the hour through 11pm, should whet the appetite for the ball drop at a minute to midnight.

Run as if 2019 were chasing you (and truly, can you imagine a scarier horror concept?) at New York Road Runners’ annual four-mile Midnight Run, which provides credit to finishers toward the New York City Marathon. NYRR will throw a party beforehand, starting at 10pm. At midnight, start your trek with hundreds of other festive joggers, and take in the gorgeous fireworks display. (Trust us: It’s a hell of a lot healthier than binge drinking and hooking up with a rando.) Be sure to register online before the big date. 

Get unparalleled views of fireworks from Brooklyn and Manhattan on this New Year's Eve cruise on the Hudson River. Boogie to tunes spun by the DJ as you sip drinks from the open bar and welcome the new year with an included champagne toast.