New Year's Eve Without Logistics: What Would Times Square Look Like?

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2025 has officially arrived, and we’re ready to kick off a strong new year. As we watched the New Year’s Eve festivities on television a couple of weeks ago, we got to thinking: What would that celebration in Times Square look like without the logistics industry? After all, you need shippers and carriers to get all of those party favors where they need to go. So, much like we did with March Madness, we decided to take a closer look. Here’s what we think the Times Square’s New Year’s Eve party would have looked like without logistics. 

The Chaos Would Start Early 

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The most important thing to know is that without shipping and trucking, New Year’s Eve would be absolute chaos. For those of us who prefer to watch the festivities from home in our pajamas, it looks chaotic enough as it already is, but would you believe that it could be even worse? 

See, this New Year’s Eve party starts way before the sun goes down. People start arriving in the late afternoon, and they’re immediately herded into “pens.” That’s not our term, by the way. That’s literally what they call the sections where they keep the partygoers. 

Now, here’s the problem: The pens are divided by metal grates. Want to know how the metal grates got there? Exactly. With trucks. So, without logistics experts, people would just start flooding the streets. 

You’d Have to Entertain Yourself 

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We’re already not off to a great start here. Ready to see how it gets worse? If you took away the logistics industry, all of these rowdy partygoers would have no way to entertain themselves. 

There would be no party favors or funny glasses, because those have to be shipped. There’d be no musicians, since the instruments and sound equipment have to be shipped, too. 

So, not only are all these people disorganized, they’re also bored. That’s never a good combination.

Snacks? What Snacks? 

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Did we say that people would be bored and disorganized? What we meant was that they’d be bored, disorganized, and hungry. Without food shipping, they’d have no way to obtain snacks. 

Take a moment to think about your decision-making skills when you’re hungry. Not great, right? Now multiply that by a million, because Times Square literally hosts over a million people on New Year’s Eve. Good luck, everyone. 

Well, That Depends 

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When people arrive for the New Year’s Eve party in Times Square, they sort of just have to…stay there. If they leave the pen and then come back, they’re not getting back into the same pen. It’s first come first herded, baby. You’re not going to get back into a good spot if you leave and come back. 

Remember what we said about people arriving in the early afternoon? For a party that ends well past midnight? We’ve already established that in a world without logistics, they’ve got no entertainment and no snacks. They’ve also got no beverages, which is just as well, because there are no toilets at this celebration either. 

And we’re not just talking about our hypothetical non-logistic scenario here. There really are no toilets at the Times Square New Year’s Eve party. And people have gotten creative. For example, some people — people who don’t otherwise need adult diapers, mind you — decide to utilize adult diapers for party purposes. This is a thing that actually happens. Probably with more attendees than you think. 

But not without logistics! Because adult diapers need to be shipped, too. We’ll let you figure out what would happen instead. 

Why are We Even Here? 

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Of course, even without logistics, it would all be worth it to see the ball drop at midnight, right? 

Nope!

That part isn't going to happen either. Why? Because there’s no glass shipping. And glass shipping is very important. The Times Square Ball is made of Waterford Crystal, which is actually a type of glass. There are also tens of thousands of LED bulbs. For all of these materials to come together, they have to be shipped to the right location. 

A Toast to Logistics in 2025 

So there’s no ball drop, no music, no snacks, and no party favors. Just a bunch of hangry people in the same location with nothing to do but go look for the nearest toilet. That doesn’t sound like a great start to a new year. 

The good news is that we do have logistics, and Pearce Worldwide is ready to serve you throughout 2025 and beyond. Get in touch with us today to learn more.