Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Before the Ball Drops, Some Said Good Riddance to '07
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 29, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 29, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The idea was a cross between a voodoo ritual and what an ex does behind closed doors -- and it was all about excorsizing bad memories. Yesterday locals and tourists alike gathered in Times Square for what was dubbed Good Riddance Day. They hauled in medical bills, photographs and floppy disks (remember those?), all to be destroyed, shredded and wiped from their memory. The NY Times reports that "the alliance, a business group that works to promote and improve the neighborhood, rented a five-foot-tall, beige industrial shredder and installed it in the lobby of the Times Square Information Center on Seventh Avenue near West 47th Street."
One man from Brooklyn brought a red suitcase stuffed with so many papers that he jammed the shredder and was asked to leave so others could have a chance. One of which was a woman who brought her Blackberry, Palm Pilot and cell phone hoping it would bring her "peace and quiet" -- but we're betting she just got an iPhone for Christmas. Spontaneous participants scrawled their fears and doubts onto pieces of scrap paper and tossed them in.
When the alliance posted about their event, they invited everyone to “join us in mashing a year’s worth of bad hairstyles, loathed music, fashion disasters and ill-fated romances into an unrecognizable pulp of bad karma and negative vibes — which will then be carted off, never to be seen again. Because sometimes, you just need to let go.” And those who couldn't get away to erase the memories themselves, emailed them in!
Photo via the Daily News, who have a gallery of Good Riddance images.
Tagged
brooklyn
cell phone
christmas
daily news
iphone
news
ny times
Palm Pilot
Seventh Avenue
The NY
the ny times
Times Square
Times Square Information Center
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .