by I’m not entirely sure which year it was! I apologize for the poor quality of the video, but I was so proud and happy about this event. It’s explained in this short video, but you’ll see people celebrating New Year’s Eve in Grand Central Station and for many, they are also getting their first introduction to the internet.
Thank you Dan Biederman from Grand Central Partnership for giving us permission to do this!
I found our announcement from 1995:
First Night In Cyberspace
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For the second year in a row, on New Year’s Eve, Echo, New York’s premier online service, will have terminals installed on the east balcony of Grand Central Terminal, above the orchestra playing waltzes and everyone dancing and swirling, so that people all over the world may celebrate the New Year on the internet with each other and with First Nighters in New York City.
Last year we had thousands and thousands of people calling in and we toasted the New Year over and over as it hit each time zone. Celebrants at Grand Central will be able to sit down at the computers on the balcony as volunteers from Echo show them how to ring in the New Year Internet-style.
On New Years Eve, those not at Grand Central can call: 292-0910, or telnet to: echonyc.com and type: fnight at the login prompt.
They will be taken straight to a chat area filled with people logging in from all over the world and with the people logging in from the balcony at the First Night Celebration at New York’s Grand Central Terminal. The online portion of First Night in Cyberspace is free, the login ‘fnight’ is a guest account that anyone can use until the morning of January 1, 1996.
First Night is brought to you by First Night International, a New Year’s Eve celebration they’ve been putting on for years that happens in cities all over the country.
For more information call: (212) 292-0900 or email horn@echonyc.com.