A Jaunt in NYC on New Year's Eve

Without any intention of actually being in the city on New Year's Eve, somehow this year I found myself heading into the city on December 31.  My intention was to be out of the city as early as possible, but as I had to run to the house to finish up some errands with Michael (some updates coming in another post), I didn't make it out of the craziness until after 7 pm.

I was on the Long Island rail road bright and early.  Up with the ducks.

I headed to brunch in Williamsburg to catch up with some girlfriends from college.  Emerging from the Bedford L stop, I was struck immediately both by how dirty NYC is, and and how vibrant.

 There is so much character here.

 

We ate at this huge space, called Freehold, which was essentially a big loft space with a backyard.  But it was too cold to sit outside.

 After brunch, I went toward the heart of the ruckus - Times Square.  My sister and I went to see a play, The Humans, which we had bought last minute on the Today Tix app (very good app for last minute tickets to plays and musicals at a discount).  Unfortunately we did not consider the repercussions of being in the busiest place on the busiest day in the world.  I emerged from the subway to streets thronged with early revelers and lots of vendors selling New Year's Eve gear.

 There was a noticeable police presence on the streets already, and all of the streets were in the process of being blocked off.  A huge sanitation truck sat in the middle of 46th street, and we had to be able to show our show tickets before being allowed down the cordoned-off block.

 I love sister bonding time!

My sister and I thought the play was really good.  The cast was compelling, the dialogue very frank and humorous, and the play was just the right amount of time (95 minutes).

As we were leaving (aka, getting the hell out of Times Square) I saw the most police ever! 

 They were congregated in the 42nd street subway, coordinating and planning for one of their more stressful nights of the year.

 

After this, I headed toward Brooklyn to help Michael out on the house.  The place had been keeping us pretty busy during this break.  Next post!