In the decade I lived in New York City, never once did I feel compelled to watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve; literally nothing about it sounds like a good time to me. But hey, guess what? Thanks to this time lapse video of New York on New Year’s Eve, I can experience the whole 14-hour event in just I can experience the whole 14-hour event in just two and a half minutes from the comfort of my own, currently cozily snowbound home! Isn’t the Internet the best?
Created by The Timelapse Group, the video features a mind-blowing 36,809 still frames by cameras stationed at a variety of different locations in Times Square: The rooftop and ground level of the Double Tree by Hilton Suites, the rooftop of the Hilton Garden Inn, and the ground level of the Hilton Times Square (I’m sensing a theme here — are you?). The cameras ran between the hours of 10:30 AM on December 31 and 1:30 AM on January 1, tracking both the crowds gathering in the streets for the celebration and the beauty of the city itself as it made its way through the day and night. After a solid 33 hours of post-production, the results emerged in the form of this video — and you guys? It’s stunning.
When you live in New York (and particularly when you’re a member of the lowest tax brackets), you’re often mired in the grunge and gunk of the city’s ground and subterranean levels. It’s easy to forget that it’s often a beautiful place, as well — you just need to know where to look. This video provides a birds’ eye view of the place, giving us a peek at some of the things we might otherwise miss: We get to see the ball getting set up and raised to its starting point; you get to see the sun set and the city lights come out to play; we get to see the people arrive and leave (but mostly arrive — after all, you have to get to Times Square early and stay there if you want to witness the whole thing in person); we get to see an impossibly fast display of fireworks; and more. Here, take a look:
Gorgeous, no?
Times Square on New Year’s Eve isn’t the only thing I can think of that I’d rather experience as a time lapse video — anyone else with me on these other events?
1. Pregnancy
Definitely not ready for it myself yet, but it’s lots of fun to watch sped up and starring other people.
2. Waiting for Your Seamless Delivery to Arrive
Nothing makes 45 minutes seem like eternity quite in the same way waiting for your pad thai does.
3. Wedding Planning
Again, not a thing I would like to do right this very moment, although I am not averse to the idea of a wedding in general. Being able to fast forward through the terrifying and stressful planning process to get right to the big day sounds like an awesome idea to me.
4. Everything That Happens at the Airport Before Your Plane Takes Off
Checking in, dropping your bags off, going through security, waiting to board… booooooooooring. (Also I'm choosing to ignore the fact that the wonderful GIF of Elaine seen here misspells "all right," because, well... Elaine.)
5. Waiting to Hear Back After a Job Interview
The worst part is never knowing if you’re going to hear back at all. Does anyone else think all potential employers should be required to inform all applicants whether they’ve got the job, not just the one who actually gets hired?
6. The Last Sleep Before Something You’ve Been Looking Forward to for Ages
Because you know you’re not going to sleep anyway. You’ll be way too excited for whatever is coming up, whether it’s Christmas morning or an incredible vacation.
7. Waiting for Your Tea to Steep or Your Coffee to Brew
Caffeine, please. NOW, PLEASE.
Images: Giphy (7)
