Ever wonder why New York City drops an 11,875 pound ball on New Year's Eve? Onerous regulations, an indefatigable newspaper publisher, and New York's second tallest building fill Conor Friedersdorf's history of the Times Square ball drop.
The world is full of peculiar New Year's eve traditions - eating 12 grapes in Spain, serving suckling pig in Austria, burning effigies in Hungary - but why, since December 31, 1907, has New York City celebrated by dropping a giant ball from the top of a building in Times Square?
It began with New York Times publisher Alfred Ochs's decision to celebrate the opening of his newspaper's new headquarters (then the second tallest tower in the city) in previously named Longacre Square with a grandiose New Year's Eve celebration. "'An all-day street festival culminated in a fireworks display set off from the base of the tower,' according to an official history published by the Times Square District Management Association....An annual event was born -- but two years later, the city prohibited the fireworks display," notes Friedersdorf.
"'Ochs was undaunted,' the official history continues. 'He arranged to have a large, illuminated seven-hundred-pound iron and wood ball lowered from the tower flagpole precisely at midnight to signal the end of 1907 and the beginning of 1908.' Thus the origin of today's celebration."
"One Times Square has been home to a ball drop ever since, save in 1942 and 1943, when wartime light restrictions caused it to be canceled," adds Friedersdorf. "The ball itself has changed with technology. The original ball of iron and wood was replaced in 1920 with a 400 pound orb of all iron. In 1955, an aluminum replacement weighed in at a considerably lighter 150 pounds, and was adorned with 180 light bulbs....And in 2008, today's gaudy orb debuted in its permanent location atop One Times Square (the Times sold the building way back in 1961)."
FULL STORY: The History Behind Why NYC Drops an 11,875 Pound Ball on New Year's Eve

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont