New Yorkers Celebrate Good Riddance Day in Times Square

Good Riddance Day Tradition

• 🗓️ New Yorkers gathered in Times Square for the 19th annual Good Riddance Day event.
• ✍️ Participants wrote down bad memories and negative thoughts from the past year (2025) on ticket stubs.
• 💔 The tradition aims to release these negative experiences to welcome a better coming year (2026).

Personal Stories and Hopes

• 💖 One participant, Tamara Lit, shared her hope to say goodbye to illness after donating bone marrow to her sister.
• 💡 Others expressed a desire for more positivity and a focus on controllable aspects of life, especially for those running their own companies.

Event Origins and Hosting

• 🎭 The event is organized by the Times Square Alliance and One Time Square.
• 🎤 Actor Jonathan Bennett hosted the event, which is inspired by Latin American traditions of burning dolls to cleanse the past.

Transition to New Year's Eve

• 🎊 After the "purge" of bad memories, the same spot in Times Square prepares for the New Year's Eve celebration.
• 🎆 Nearly one million people are expected to attend the world's biggest New Year's Eve celebration to watch the ball drop and ring in 2026.