Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
How to enjoy New Year's Eve in NYC while (mostly) steering clear of Times Square
By
Precious Fondren
Published Dec 26, 2022
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
Precious Fondren
Published Dec 26, 2022
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
Once a year, every year, thousands of people forgo using the bathroom for several hours, crowding into Times Square for the world famous ball drop that ushers in the New Year. But if you don’t care for dazzling lights, freezing temperatures and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers, New York City offers plenty of alternatives — some close enough to the action that you'll still hear the crowds and feel the excitement; others so far off they could be in another world.
Get a running start on the rat race
Loads of people make New Year’s resolutions, and one of the most common goals is a desire to be healthier. You can start, restart or maintain your journey toward health with the New York Road Runners’ Midnight Run. Starting at 11:59 p.m., this four-mile run in Central Park starts with a fireworks display at the stroke of midnight, so you can hit the ground running in 2023. (Note that runners must pick up their identification bibs before Dec. 31.) For more information and registration, visit here.
Raise a glass to the ghosts of Prohibition past
If your hunger for history matches your thirst for revelry, the Drinks and Prohibition History Tour NYC offered by NiteTables Experiences has just what you're looking for. The nine-hour tour starts at 3 p.m. and takes in some of the city's oldest bars and most storied former speakeasies, where historians will recount the rise and fall of Prohibition and the gangsters who scoffed at the law. The tour wraps up with an extended open-bar session at a location offering a choice view of the ball drop from a safe distance. (Also? Indoor plumbing.) Find out more here.
You can't get much further away from Times Square than partying on a fireworks cruise on the Hudson.
Courtesy Circle Line
Take a slow boat around the city
One sure way to avoid Times Square, along with its traffic and transit snarls, is to leave Manhattan island altogether. Enter Circle Line's New Year's Eve Party Cruise, which provides hors d'oeuvres, an open bar and a midnight champagne toast as you cruise serenely up the Hudson, taking in the sights and the fireworks while a DJ spins the hits. Tickets are scarce and start at $249; go here for more information.
Treat the family to fireworks in Prospect Park
If you're looking for a semi-chill way to ring in the New Year with the family, bundle up and head to Grand Army Plaza for fireworks over Prospect Park. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso presides over the four-decade community tradition, which returns for the first time since 2020. The free event starts with live music at 10 p.m.; go here for details and directions.
Pay the waiters to sing for your supper
Okay, so you're not exactly skipping out on Times Square crowds if you spend your evening at Ellen’s Stardust Dinner, located on Broadway at West 51st Street. But the 1950s-styled diner offers a three-course meal, a champagne toast, a singing waitstaff and, again, dignified toilets. Tickets start at $350, and are available with and without an open bar option. You can find more details here.
Carolines on Broadway will close its doors permanently after two final shows on New Year's Eve.
Anne Czichos/Shutterstock
Witness the last laughs at an NYC comedy institution
The famed comedy club Carolines on Broadway, a local nightlife fixture for 40 years, is shuttering its current location as 2022 comes to an end. The club has indicated it plans to reopen elsewhere; in the meantime, a clutch of comics will give it their all in sets at 7 and 10:30 p.m. You can order tickets here, and pay attention to details about the club plans to escort ticket holders safely past the Times Square throng.
Peace out (or pick up the pieces) with serene choral music
If you're in search of a genuinely peaceful way to ring in the New Year, a live performance of venerated Russian choral music might be just the ticket. The Clarion Choir is presenting all of Rachmaninoff's major choral works in 2023 to mark his 150th birthday, and it all starts with performances of his sublime "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom" on New Year’s Eve and again New Year’s Day at Holy Trinity Cathedral on the Upper East Side. Grab your tickets here.
Tagged
new york city
new year's eve
Precious Fondren
Precious is a former WNYC & Gothamist culture reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
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 .