Watch the NYC Ball Drop from Home: Tips & Fun Facts

Ringing in the New Year with thousands of people in Times Square, but without leaving your couch. You can! The famous ball drop in NYC's Times Square is broadcast and livestreamed, so you don't have to deal with the crowds. One way to catch the action is via NBC New York's Times Square Live Stream. Their coverage starts at 7 p. m. ET and goes till 1 a. m. ET. It's a non-stop live feed with music, so you can enjoy it right up until the cleanup begins. Want to impress your friends with some cool facts about the ball drop? Here we go! The ball is massive, standing at 12 feet tall and weighing over 11, 000 pounds. It's covered in more than 2, 600 crystal triangles, each pattern representing a different virtue like love, wisdom, and happiness. The tradition started way back in 1907, but celebrations in Times Square began even earlier. The first ball was made of iron, wood, and lightbulbs. It's been dropped every year except for 1942 and 1943 due to World War II. Fun fact: The ball drop tradition is over 180 years old! Before Times Square, balls were dropped daily at England's Royal Observatory at Greenwich for setting navigation tools.