Coney Island Drops the ball and lights up the boardwalk ringing in New Year 2015. I am normally a creature of habit so every New Year’s eve my husband and I go to Park Slope in Brooklyn and bring in the New Year with a couple we have been friends with for over 20 years. We over indulge ourselves on cooked ham, or roast beef, with sides of hummus, cheese etc. Wine flows and french pastries from Claudes in the West Village or Italian cookies from Rocco’s, on Bleecker Street, appear. We are generally too stuffed and too buzzed to go any further than Prospect Park to watch the dazzling fireworks show at Midnight, but this year was different. A First for Coney Island This year a ball was to be dropped from the parachute jump in Coney Island complete with a fireworks display. How could we resist? So, bundled up, in down and wool, the four of us made a pilgrimage to Coney Island. It was very cold out and even colder as we approached the boardwalk. I was starting to think, as my fingers turned to sticks of ice, that this may not have been our best idea; However, once we hit the boardwalk, and entered Tom’s, the energy and excitement of being in Coney Island to share this moment, in what could become a yearly tradition for many Brooklynites, was completely overwhelming and heart and hand warming. After getting some hot chocolates we snagged a perfect spot to view the ball drop from the parachute jump. Some of the freak show entertainers kept the crowd, and us, quite amused and before we knew it the countdown. The Coney Island New Year’s Magic I have to say it was quite spectacular and I felt a rush of Brooklyn Pride to see the very first ball drop from the land-marked parachute jump, except, technically it wasn’t a ball. The ball drop was the parachutes lights, a symbolic ball as it were. The fireworks display was just about as good as any of the Friday Night summer ones in Coney Island that I have been to. Heading back toward the “Q” train we all agreed that we would come back next year and begin a new yearly tradition in Coney Island. Here is a link to a great video of the Coney Island New Year’s from The Facebook page of DJ ChriSmooth Facebook Video If Times Square isn’t your scene then think about heading to Coney Island for the next New Year’s Eve celebration.
