The usual ball drop in Times Square wouldn’t be complete without the clouds of confetti raining down on the estimated million people below; the spectacle ties the whole experience together. Treb Heining, who has managed the tradition since its debut in 1991, says no livestream can “do it justice when you see it with the naked eye… it still gives me goosebumps.” But just how did confetti become part of the tradition, and what does it take now to make sure that the streets are clean after one of the most awaited nights of the year?

Heining, before he became the mastermind behind the New Year’s Eve confetti, was known as the “father of the balloon industry,” says NBC New York. The Times Square Alliance, formed to improve the intersection, had asked him what they could do to make New Year’s Eve more special. He suggested the use of confetti, and the ball rolled from there. Since then, he has managed around 34 years of the organized chaos that is throwing confetti down onto the crowd of celebrators just before the ball drops.

There is a surprisingly meticulous process to what looks to be simply throwing confetti off balconies above Times Square. Around twenty seconds before the ball drops, volunteers start hurling colorful paper into the air. Even that takes a lot of energy: Heining describes it as if “[Y]ou’re trying to throw it across the street…You are taking a clump of confetti and throwing it as hard as you can, getting another and throwing it and throwing it and throwing it.” And with the amount of confetti that needs to be thrown, nearly 45 pounds or 70 boxes, says NBC New York, it’s a lot more exhausting than an average party. Obviously, this is not any sort of average party.

After the festivities are over and many revelers have left Times Square, the quiet force behind the intersection’s makeover sweeps in—literally. ABC 7 New York reports that the task force includes around “187 sanitation workers using 21 mechanical brooms and 20 collection trucks – along with brooms and backpack blowers – [they] picked up about 100,000 pounds of litter, confetti and party hats.” This is truly a remarkable feat that happens with few people there to witness, yet many take it for granted the next day. Specifically, the NYC Department of Sanitation reported that “for the 2023 to 2024 festivities last year, roughly 100,000 pounds of trash and confetti were picked up from the area, which measures only one square mile. That is more than 50 tons of confetti, big party hats, noisemakers, numeral sunglasses, and other festive celebratory accouterments.” 

But alas, when the sun rises on the first day of the new year, the organized chaos has vanished, offering the perfectly clean slate to start anew. The efforts of the underappreciated heroes of Times Square might get swept up in the festivities that continue, but when you make time and space on your resolutions list this year, maybe a goal to appreciate everything around you to its fullest extent isn’t a bad idea at all.