Start Spreadin' The News

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on New Years Eve, 2017, we landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Terminal 8.

And at 11 o'clock in the morning on New Years Eve 2017, crosstown traffic was stopped in New York City from 37th to 59th streets. The entire area was sealed off, with blocker cars, sanitation trucks and concrete blocks. There were 125 parking garages in the area that were closed off and sealed. To each of the twelve access points to walk into Times Square, there were vapor dogs and heavy weapons teams assigned.

There were three compulsory security checkpoints to walk through in order to reach the viewing area at Times Square. This meant three separate times, you were individually searched and screened. Backpacks and umbrellas were banned.

Observation experts were placed throughout the viewing area to counter sniper attacks. Emergency service units worked with both the Secret Service and FBI, dispatching undercover detectives and armed policemen throughout the viewing area of Times Square to counter mass shooting attempts and potential threats of terror.

Start spreadin' the news. I'm leaving today.

The cost of securing Times Square to watch the ball drop on New Years Eve 2017, was around $7 and a half million dollars. You would have been far more safe at Times Square for the countdown than you would be lighting your own fireworks at home.

I want to be a part of it, New York, New York.

I stayed inside, where it was nice and warm, because it was the bloody coldest New Years Eve on record in 100 years. The coldest ever recorded ball drop was in 1917, and the temperature was minus 17 degrees Celsius. Last night, it was minus 13, and I didn't even bring clothing that covered my thighs.

These vegabond shoes, are longing to stray.

Call me a wuss, but as well as the cold, seeing the ball drop in Times Square is a far bigger ordeal than anyone anticipated. There are 1 million people who stand there every year to watch this 700 pound electrically lit piece of iron and wood fall 140 feet at midnight. And they start standing out there at noon, with rumors that some people even wear diapers so they can stand there so long without losing their spot.

I stood there, too. For a couple minutes, the next morning just so I could pose for a picture wearing all the clothes I happened to be carrying in my luggage that day.

Just because I didn't see the ball drop, doesn't mean I didn't have fun. I don't have any idea who I'm standing beside, but I was only too happy to be inside a warm building with her. The truth is, if Times Square wasn't so much like a Siberian Afghanistan without food, water and places to poop for hours on end, I would have gone.

Well, New York. I'll be seeing you. In summer. Because I do want to wake up in a city that doesn't sleep... unless it's colder than -10 degrees. I'll take Caribbean temperatures over that.

If I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere, but it's up to you, New York, New York.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Bailey Sue