Every Dec. 31, roughly 1 million people gather in New York City to witness the ball — an 11,875-pound sphere illuminated by 32,256 LEDs — descend the flagpole atop One Times Square.

Two years later, the city banned the fireworks, but Ochs lowered an illuminated wooden ball from a flagpole atop the tower to signal the new year. In 1942 and 1943, the ball drop was replaced with ...

They moved into their Petworth home in 2013 and in 2014, they decided to create a "ball drop," using the flagpole in their front yard. "So that year it was just me and the cops. I just wanted to ...