By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-28 20:50:33 | Updated at 2024-12-29 12:29:30
15 hours ago
New Yorkers and tourists gathered in Times Square Saturday to bid “Good Riddance” to bedbugs, belly weight, loud neighbors and feelings for former lovers in 2025.
More than 100 people showed up for the 18th annual event — each jotting down and symbolically erasing the grievances they wish to leave behind.
For 13-year-old Mason Riddle of Hartselle, Ala., starting the new year with a clean slate means no more “arguing with my mom.”
“I do it all the time and she’s tired of it,” he told The Post.
His mom, Jessica Riddle, didn’t see their squabbles severe enough to wipe away on her own miniature chalkboard that the Times Square Alliance doled out. Instead, the single mom of two hopes to get rid of self-doubt and disorganization.
“I question myself every day if I’m raising them the right way and I just want to enjoy life and have fun and stop stressing so much,” she said.
“I’m trying to get a better handle on being organized so things move smoothly in our life.”
Anna Daratany, 57, of Coney Island is bidding goodbye to the hormonal tribulations that accompany menopause — particularly belly weight.
“The journey has been crazy. It’s been about four years. … You make it, I’ve been through it,” she said with a flourish of positivity.
Daratany is trying to drop weight and “get on with my golden years,” she said, adding she’d like to lose about 15 pounds: “I know it’s because of the hormones. I know it is.”
Eileen Mullin, 57, of Rego Park is looking forward to standing her ground more in 2025 and not giving in to the demands of others, while new New Yorker Georgina Calvillo, 25, is saying goodbye to a recent heartbreak.
“He wanted to start a family in Mexico but I wanted to see the world here in New York so we decided to break up,” said Calvillo, who is working in the Big Apple as a nanny.
Of the roughly 100 people packed into the tourist center Saturday, perhaps none had more to look forward to than Lauren of Williamsburg.
The 29-year-old is saying good riddance to bedbugs, loud neighbors, a bad job and sad feelings in general.
“I live above a really loud pizza shop and it vibrated my floor for a month and a half,” said Lauren, who declined to share her last name, adding that she also suffered from bedbugs after accidentally bringing the pests home from a trip to Nashville.
“It was awful. I had to pack all my stuff up. It was packed up for a month and a half. I was scared to be around people because I didn’t want to give people bedbugs,” she continued.
“It was a whole thing and during that I was job interviewing.”
Luckily, Lauren has already turned the page and is enjoying a fresh start — the bedbugs were exterminated on the same day she negotiated a deal with her neighbors to bring down the noise.
“This all changed for me on the same day pretty much. It was my birthday. I got a job offer and I was unpacking from the bed bugs,” Lauren said triumphantly.
Good Riddance Day is one of several end-of-year events being celebrated in Times Square this weekend ahead of the iconic New Year’s Eve ball drop.
According to Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, a typical list over the years includes money problems, cancer and bad boyfriends.
“When we reflect on the past, we look to say goodbye to things and good riddance to things,” he told The Post.
“Today is a way to very publicly say good riddance to something in Times Square.”
