What are we looking forward to here in New York City? Well, we’re not quite done with 2025, and a year of celebrating the city’s 400th anniversary will come to a fitting end with the Times Square Ball Drop in Manhattan on New Year’s Eve.
In a tradition that goes back nearly 120 years, the event brings together all kinds of revelers, who pack together in shared communion—while stars perform, a giant Waterford crystal ball and 3,000 pounds of confetti fall—to feel like they are witnessing a little bit of NYC history.
And there is a new ball this year, featuring twice the number of lights of its predecessor and over 5,000 circular crystals.
It’s a feat of endurance to wait in those crowds; equally hardy people who want a more active way of ringing in the new year might open for the traditional midnight run in Central Park or the longtime Coney Island pastime on New Year’s Day itself: the Polar Bear Club plunge into frigid Atlantic Ocean waters.
Note: the club is the oldest winter bathing club in the country and has been performing this feat since 1903.
But there will be a lot to welcome in 2026 — one of the biggest for sports fans — soccer! (In other words, football.) FIFA World Cup 2026 is coming to the area, with eight games, including the final, being played right here between June 13 and July 19.
Whenever and wherever this global sporting event takes place, fans and communities come together to watch, so expect the City, with its fan zones, international restaurants, sports bars and melting-pot neighborhoods, to reach a fever pitch.
While all thats going on, events will also be taking place to coincide with America 250. Sail 4th 250 will bring tall ships from all over into the harbor; Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks will decorate the sky like never before; and Fleet Week is moving from its regular May day to early July to take part in the festivities.
And for a few days, an original handwritten draft of the Declaration of Independence will be on display at the main branch—Midtown’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building—of the New York Public Library, part of their summer programming looking back at 250 years of the United States.
Visit the Founded by NYC website to get updates on all the biggest events happening in New York City in 2026.
