I’m glad I wasn’t in Times Square last night

I’ve been to Times Square. When I worked for Libbey Inc. back before I had kids, we always stayed in the Renaissance Hotel in Times Square when we attended the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant trade show. Let me tell you, it’s not a big place. I still can’t believe 1 million people fit in there every New Year’s Eve. You couldn’t pay be enough to get me to be there with all those people.

As I said, Times Square isn’t a very big place. If you want to see for yourself, you take a look at this webcam of Times Square here that gives you an idea of how small the area is. Imagine 1 million people crowding in there. Now imagine how much garbage that results from those 1 million people.  According to the AP, 1 million people produce about 40 tons of trash.

One million revelers packed into Times Square plus a ton of confetti and countless noisemakers equals a whole lot of garbage — about 40 tons, according to the city Department of Sanitation.

Cleanup crews hit the streets shortly after midnight Thursday following the 2009 ball drop. Sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis said 163 people worked until 8 a.m. to sweep up the party trash, and a new shift started at 11 a.m. to tidy the area.

Because of the wind — nearly 25 mph gusts throughout the city — the department wasn’t quite sure how much trash was strewn about, but Mellis expected a little more than last year’s 40 tons. The Times Square Alliance, which puts on the event, said about 1 million people attended.

I can’t imagine cleaning up that mess. I wonder how the environmentalists feel about all the trash created from such a massive group of people and the landfill space that it took to dump that gargabe. Let’s not forget the fireworks display and all the acrid smoke released into the air. That doesn’t sound very “green” to me. What’s funny is that organizers of the New Year’s Eve bash in TS are touting their new energy efficient ball. I don’t think the energy savings with the new ball will compensate for the impact of the mess that resulted.

But the lights on the ball are very cool. If  you missed the ball drop as we did last night, you can watch it here.