The annual New Year 's Eve countdown in Times Square is yet another example of the cultural divide between New York City and the rest of the country .While millions of Americans watch the ball drop on television each year and hundreds of thousands of them make the pilgrimage to Broadway to see it in person , all the revelry and whooping and hollering tends to send many native New Yorkers running for cover , and Tuesday night 's celebration was no exception ." Being from New York , it 's not that appealing , " said Greg Colbert , 24 , a stockbroker trainee who was fleeing Midtown before the hordes arrived , the streets were closed , the beer started to flow , the noisemakers began to bleat and the ball dropped ." I don't want to spend New Year 's Eve packed like a bunch of sardines in the freezing cold .I 'd rather be with my friends and family . "A childhood trip to Times Square to celebrate New Year 's cured Grace Deighan , one of his co-workers , of any desire to ever return ." You do it once and you 've done it , and you don't want to do it again , " explained Ms. Deighan , 24 , a sales assistant .But if many New Yorkers were nonplussed by the idea of braving the masses to watch the ball drop , visitors seemed to find New Year 's in Times Square irresistible , as close as one can ever come to the center of the action ." We're from Alaska ! Are We On TV Yet ? " asked the sign held up by Gabe Layman , 18 , who made sure that he timed his trip to look at eastern colleges so he could ring in the New Year in Times Square ." We 've climbed 8,000-foot mountain peaks , but this is crazier , " said Mr. Layman , who arrived at 2 p.m. to make sure he would have a good view at midnight ." I 've never seen this many people in the same place at the same time .There are as many people here as in our whole state . "The celebration 's popularity among out-of-towners is a testament to the power of television .Just as tourists are drawn to Rockefeller Center these days less for the ice skaters and the statue of Prometheus and more for the chance to watch the " Today " show filmed live , many revelers from elsewhere were lured to Times Square in the hopes of being part of a party that they have seen Dick Clark host on television for years ." When I was in Georgia I made it my business to watch the ball drop every year , " said Glenda Jones , 38 , who moved to New York from Columbus , Ga. , this year ." This is something I 've always dreamed of being a part of , and now I 'm in it .  STORY CAN END HERE .OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS Times Square was a mixture of the familiar and the new Tuesday night .Missionaries worked Broadway , just as they did in Damon Runyon 's day , handing out coffee and talking about saving souls .One man held a Bible aloft , muttering something about the end of the earth being nigh .A man and a woman held up signs that said , " New Revelations show we are close to the rapture . "But this year the crowds were illuminated by the neon lights of the neighborhood 's new arrivals : the Disney Store , the Virgin Megastore , the All Star Cafe and Ferrara 's .And if there seemed to be less flesh around , with the once-ubiquitous underwear advertisements disappearing nearly as fast as the pornographic stores and theaters , visitors could at least take in a giant billboard of a nude Howard Stern , obscured partly by the Chrysler Building on the advertisement , which is displayed on the Viacom Building to promote his upcoming film .And while young celebrants seemed happy to stand around and scream and yell , and hawkers made more noise than the noisemakers they were selling , the people who live and work in the vicinity grumbled that they could no longer get from point A to point B without circuitous detours .The Crossroads of the World was closed : 42nd Street was shut to traffic , the subway station was off limits , and 2,600 police officers shepherded the crowds into separate pens made up of police barricades ." This takes all the fun out of it , " complained a would-be reveler who was barred from entering Broadway at 44th Street and told to walk back to Eight Avenue , up to 48th Street then back over to Broadway ." This goes against the whole concept . "And a young man in a yellow plastic derby who was trying to get from the Avenue of the Americas to his family 's deli near Broadway was stopped at the corner ." Do you have a business ID ? " a police officer asked .But nothing could deter Ned Moraghan , a student at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken , N.J. , who arrived early with an aluminum foil " 9 " attached to his head .He was part of a quartet wearing the silvery numerals that make up " 1997 " on their heads ." It 's like being with half a million of your closest friends , " he said .His friend and classmate " 1 , " also known as Tom Smith , said that a trip to Times Square last New Year 's had converted him forever ." I 'm coming back every year , " said Mr. Smith .Still , the natives stayed away ." I 've seen it enough times on TV to know that I don't want to be there , " said Mecsi Aaron , 28 , a computer consultant , who fled into the 47th-50th Street subway station .And Jarek Sluzewski may have arrived from Poland only seven years ago , but he is already well-acquainted with the ways of his adopted hometown when it comes to New Year 's ." Only people from outside New York go to Times Square , " he said , as he prepared to head for a party in Queens where he would meet up with around 40 like-minded friends ." New Yorkers know there are better ways to spend New Year 's . "