There are few New Year's Eve celebrations in the world as famous as the one in Times Square.
Millions of people watch the Ball Drop on television every year. Thousands come to New York City to experience it in person, standing in Times Square for hours waiting for those final ten seconds before midnight.
And here's a confession from someone who has worked in the Times Square area for more than a decade:
I've never celebrated New Year's Eve in Times Square.
And honestly? I'm not sure I ever will.
I've happened to work on December 31 almost every year, so I know exactly what Times Square turns into that day. Streets close. Security checkpoints appear. Getting around becomes complicated. People arrive incredibly early to secure their viewing spots and then wait for hours and hours for midnight.
I understand why people want to experience it once in their lives. But standing in one place for most of the day waiting for the Ball Drop?
That's probably not going on my bucket list.
There is, however, one Times Square New Year's Eve tradition that I find incredibly beautiful.
And strangely enough, I discovered just how beautiful it was after New Year's Eve was already over.
Did You Know You Can Put Your Wish Into the Times Square Confetti?
Before New Year's Eve, Times Square has something called the New Year's Eve Wishing Wall.
People write their hopes, dreams and wishes for the coming year directly onto pieces of official Times Square New Year's Eve confetti.
And then, at midnight on December 31, those wishes become part of the confetti that falls over Times Square.
So when you see that enormous blizzard of colorful paper floating through the air after the Ball Drop, you're not just looking at confetti.
Some of those tiny pieces of paper are carrying someone's dream.
Someone might have wished for love.
Someone might be hoping for a baby.
Someone might be praying for someone's health.
Someone might want to find a new job, travel somewhere they've always dreamed about visiting, fall in love, make peace with someone, or simply have a happier year.
And at midnight, thousands of those wishes fly together over Times Square.
I think there's something incredibly beautiful about that.
How the Famous Times Square Confetti Actually Works
The scale is much bigger than it looks on television.
For the 2026 celebration, organizers prepared approximately 3,000 pounds of confetti. At midnight, teams stationed on rooftops throughout Times Square released it over the crowds below, creating that famous colorful blizzard you see on television.
And mixed into those 3,000 pounds were tens of thousands of wishes submitted by people around the world.
There's even an official Confetti Test shortly before New Year's Eve to make sure the paper floats through the air properly. And no, you can't volunteer to throw it—the official Times Square FAQ says the "confetti master and his team" handle that job.
But here's something you don't really see on television:
The confetti doesn't disappear on January 1.
Not even close.
The Confetti Stays in Times Square Much Longer Than You'd Think
After New Year's Eve, cleaning crews work incredibly hard to clean Times Square.
But three thousand pounds of tiny pieces of paper have a way of getting everywhere.
They don't simply land neatly in the middle of Broadway waiting to be swept up.
They blow onto rooftops. They get trapped behind signs. They settle into little corners. They end up on awnings and ledges and places nobody can immediately reach.
I'll tell you a little Times Square secret:
I've found New Year's Eve confetti months later.
I've seen random pieces appear in June and July.
The wind catches something that has apparently been sitting somewhere for months, and suddenly there it is again.
A tiny leftover piece of New Year's Eve floating through Times Square in the middle of summer.
But January is completely different.
During those first days and weeks after New Year's Eve, you can still find enormous amounts of confetti around the neighborhood.
And last year, that's how this story started for me.
The Wish I Found on January 2
Last year, I wanted to submit my own wish to the Wishing Wall.
I kept telling myself I would do it later.
And then work became crazy.
Later became tomorrow.
Tomorrow became the next day.
And suddenly New Year's Eve had passed.
I had completely forgotten.
On January 2, I was walking to my studio in the Times Square area. There was still confetti everywhere, even though the streets had already been cleaned.
I wasn't paying much attention to it until something on the ground caught my eye.
Handwriting.
I stopped.
It wasn't simply another colorful piece of confetti.
Someone had written a wish on it.
I picked it up and read it.
And something about that tiny piece of paper really touched me.
Here was someone's hope for the new year—something they had taken a moment to write down and send into the sky—and somehow, out of thousands and thousands of pieces of confetti, it had ended up right in front of me.
It almost felt wrong to simply walk past it.
So I didn't.
I Started Looking for Other People's Wishes
After that, whenever I went to the studio during January and had a little extra time, I started looking.
Not every day, but every once in a while I would wander around the streets surrounding Times Square, looking through piles of leftover confetti and searching for pieces with writing on them.
Some wishes were handwritten.
Others were printed, which meant they had been submitted online by people who might have been thousands of miles away from New York.
And reading them became strangely fascinating.
Because when you remove everything else—where someone lives, what they do, how old they are, what language they speak—you begin to realize how similar so many of our wishes actually are.
People wished for health.
People wished for peace.
People wished for love.
People wished for their families.
People wished for happiness.
And then there were incredibly personal little wishes.
Someone hoping that another person would fall in love with them.
Someone hoping for a kiss.
Someone wishing for something that was clearly deeply important to them, even though I would never know the entire story behind it.
Some were funny.
Some made me smile.
And some genuinely touched my heart.
I'll be sharing photographs of a few of the wishes I found throughout this post because I think they deserve to be seen.
And Then Something Beautiful Happened on TikTok
I also shared some of the wishes I found in a TikTok video.
And then something happened that I never expected.
One of the people who saw the video recognized her own wish.
Think about the chances of that happening.
A person submits a wish.
That wish becomes one tiny piece among thousands upon thousands of pieces of confetti.
It gets released over Times Square at midnight.
It lands somewhere on the streets of Manhattan.
I happen to find it.
I photograph it.
I share it online.
And somehow, that exact person sees my video.
It felt like this strange, beautiful little full-circle moment.
Her wish had traveled through Times Square and somehow found its way back to her.
How to Add Your Own Wish to the Times Square Confetti
And here's the best part: you don't need a ticket to the Ball Drop—or even need to celebrate New Year's Eve in Times Square—to participate.
If you're visiting New York during December, look for the official Times Square New Year's Eve Wishing Wall.
For the most recently announced season, the mobile Wishing Wall was located on the Broadway plazas between 45th and 47th Streets in Times Square from December 1 through December 29, 11:00 AM–8:00 PM, except December 25. Participation was free.
You write your wish directly onto a piece of official confetti, and it is added to the confetti prepared for New Year's Eve.
Since exact dates and submission deadlines can change from year to year, check the current schedule before visiting.
Times Square New Year's Eve Wishing Wall
You Can Make a Wish Even If You're Nowhere Near New York
This might be my favorite part of the tradition.
You can participate from anywhere in the world.
The Times Square Alliance also operates a Virtual Wishing Wall. You submit your wish online, and organizers print it onto an actual piece of confetti to be included in the New Year's Eve celebration.
So you could be sitting in California, London, Moscow, Australia or practically anywhere else and still have your wish floating over Times Square when the clock strikes midnight.
Just pay attention to the submission deadline. Late wishes can be held for the following year's celebration.
Submit your Times Square New Year's Eve wish online
Maybe This Year I'll Finally Remember Mine
After spending so much time last January discovering other people's hopes and dreams scattered across Times Square, I think I appreciate this tradition differently now.
The Ball Drop is spectacular.
The lights are spectacular.
The celebration is spectacular.
But underneath all of that enormous New York production is something surprisingly small and human:
A person. A tiny piece of paper. And something they're hoping will happen.
Maybe that's why finding those wishes affected me so much.
For a few seconds, you're holding something a complete stranger hoped for.
You don't know them.
You don't know what happened afterward.
You don't know whether their wish came true.
But for that moment, you can quietly honor it and hope along with them.
And maybe this December, I'll finally remember to write mine.
Capture Your Own Holiday Memories in Times Square
And if you're visiting New York during the holidays, you don't have to wait until New Year's Eve to create your own Times Square memory.
As a New York City photographer based in the Times Square area, I photograph couples, families, solo travelers and friends throughout the holiday season. Times Square is especially incredible in December, and we can also incorporate some of New York's other iconic Christmas locations into your session.
So write your wish, enjoy the lights, take in all of the beautiful chaos—and if you'd like professional photographs from your Christmas or New Year's trip to New York, you can book a holiday photoshoot with me.
Maybe years from now you'll forget exactly where you had dinner or which Broadway show you saw.
But you'll still have the photographs—and hopefully, somewhere out there, your wish came true too. Follow this link to learn more about my Holiday Photoshoots around NYC
Looking for More Unique Things to Do in NYC This Christmas?
The Times Square Wishing Wall is only one of the fun traditions you can actually take part in during the holiday season. If you're planning a December trip, I've put together another guide featuring 8 unique things to do in New York City during Christmas 2026—including taking a photo with the giant 2027 Times Square numbers, participating in Good Riddance Day, watching the official Times Square Confetti Test, singing Christmas carols under the Washington Square Arch, and more.
