One minute before midnight on New Year’s Eve, high above street level, Treb Heining closely monitors a digital clock below the Waterford crystal ball towering over Times Square, and soon the crowd loudly joins together in a final countdown chorus.
“ … 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 …”
By the time fireworks blast off on the hour and “Auld Lang Syne” echoes from 42nd to 59th streets and Sixth to Eighth avenues, “confetti king” Heining has already given a quick radio command — “Go confetti!” — to team leaders in charge of 100-plus volunteers scattered around seven buildings surrounding Times Square.
As thousands dance and cheer, packed shoulder-to-shoulder at street level, and couples (and perhaps strangers) passionately kiss, Heining joins the volunteers in hoisting huge handfuls of confetti into the air, one bunch after another. The 2-inch-square pieces of paper quickly engulf the area in a vibrant, fluttering blizzard, upstaging the ball drop for those on the street and turning several Midtown blocks into the largest, most colorful snow globe on Earth…