HOLIDAY
PHOTO COURTESY OF COUNTDOWN ENTERTAIUNMENT
You can leave your wishes for 2022 on the Wishing Wall in Times Square.
Wish upon a Square
A wall in Midtown accepts visitors’ hopes for the new year
BY AIDAN SEIDEN
While New Yorker’s
everywhere were disheartened
to ring in
the year 2021 with minimal
festivities and an anticlimactic
virtual ball drop — as a
consequence of COVID-19
— this year, the celebration
will return at “full strength,”
according to former Mayor
Bill de Blasio in a statement
made in mid-November, which
includes the reintroduction of
The Times Square New Year’s
Eve Wishing Wall.
The Wall was offi cially unveiled
on Dec. 2, along with
new COVID-19 friendly modifi
cations, courtesy of The
Times Square Alliance and
Countdown Entertainment,
as well as presenting sponsor
Planet Fitness.
As the age old question,
“what will my New Year’s
resolution be?”, returns to the
forefront of everyone’s minds,
The Wall allows people from
around the world to be directly
involved in the momentous
occasion. Simply submit
your resolution or “wish,” and
it will be copied onto pieces
of confetti and dropped from
the sky at midnight in Times
Square on New Year’s Eve.
“Submitting a confetti wish
gives everyone the ability to
be part of the magic that happens
on New Year’s Eve in
Times Square,” said President
of Countdown Entertainment,
Jeffrey Straus.
From now until Dec. 28, you
can submit your resolutions at
one of Times Square’s Broadway
plazas between 42nd and
47th Street, and join the other
3,000 pounds of confetti wishes.
The submission area will
also be equipped with hand
sanitizer and face masks in
order to maintain a safe environment,
according to Times
Square New Year’s Eve.
However, if leaving the
comfort of your home is deterring
you from partaking in this
spectacular holiday celebration,
you now have the ability
to submit your wishes online at
www.TSQ.org/Wish or www.
PlanetFitness.com/confettiwishes,
or even on Twitter and
Instagram with the hashtag
#ConfettiWish.
“The New Year is a time for
people to come together and
look ahead with hope for a
better future,” said Tom Harris,
President of the Times
Square Alliance. The spectacle
of the confetti, Harris believes,
will spark “positivity and joy”
in those watching at home or
in person in Times Square, encouraging
these sentiments to
carry over into the new year.
Another addition to the eagerly
awaited, famously frigid,
celebration this year, is that
it will also include a “virtual
multi-media experience” via
the VYNE app, the Times
Square New Year’s Eve team
said. The event will be hosted
by “Jamestown, the owner of
One Times Square”
Individuals from everywhere
in the world can access
the VYNE app on their smart
devices, which will allow them
to digitally experience the
Times Square festivities, while
also playing games and watching
the New Year’s Eve events
live.
To make up for the scaleddown
celebration from last
year, why not start 2022 off by
becoming apart of New York
City history? So, when the
clock strikes Midnight on New
Year’s Eve, your’s and your
loved ones’ wishes for the upcoming
year will be unleashed
into the cheering streets of
Manhattan.
“We will all watch with
amazement as a blizzard of
confetti blankets the sky fi lled
with the hopes and dreams
of people from around the
world,” said Strauss.
Festive
drinking
& more
BY NYCKOLE MAREE
Loreley Restaurant &
Beer Garden is one
of NYC’s pioneering
beer gardens and is getting
into the Christmas spirit
with its “The Wonderland”
popup, a perfect place to
celebrate this holiday season.
The establishment, located
at 7 Rivington St. on
the Lower East Side, is offering
festive holiday drinks
that feature Boozy Bourbon
Black and White Hot Chocolate
with toasted marshmallows,
holiday cocktails
like Peppermint Nitro Martini
with a candy cane, and
including a menu full of
many more festive drink
options to choose from.
Each day, the restaurant
will offer various happy
hour holiday specials, including
select cocktails, giant
one-liter steins of beer
and wines by the glass, plus
$25 select wine bottles.
Enjoy your festive drink
indoors or outdoors at the
heated beer garden while
looking at the over the top
holiday lights and decor.
The restaurant also included
an extensive menu
of beer-friendly dishes featuring
giant pretzels paired
with warm beer cheese
dip; grilled Sausage Party
platters; schnitzels, cheesy
spaetzle with bacon; burgers,
and more.
Wonderland popup is
open daily now until Jan. 9
and for more information
about details on happy hour
specials, visit Loreleynyc.
com.
Schneps Media December 9, 2021 17
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