BALLER$ PAY BIG FOR VIEW
Applebees’ $650 Eve
Would you pay $650 for a table at Applebee’s in Times Square to watch the ball drop?
Apparently many New Year’s Eve revelers are willing to fork over just that and even more — including $12,500 for a luxury couples package at the Marriott Marquis — to ring in 2024, according to events entrepreneur Joshua Perla.
Perla, founder of events sites BallDrop.com and NewYears.com, said business has been brisk for the 30 different Times Square packages.
“We are seeing an uptick in the price consumers are spending on New Year’s Eve tickets that include a live view of the ball drop in Times Square,” Perla told The Post.
The Big Applebee’s
That includes the $650 per person seating at one of the two Applebee’s in Times Square, which will offer a menu that goes beyond the casual chain’s usual fare of bottomless salad and pasta options.
“You are really paying for the real estate, to be in the area and ultimately to get a view of the ball drop at midnight,” Perla said.
Evan Lund, a cybersecurity manager from Loveland, Colo., and his teacher wife, Julie, both 36, attended the Applebee’s New Year’s Eve festivities last year with a foreign exchange student who was staying with them.
They loved it so much they are back to watch the countdown this year with another foreign exchange student they are hosting from Poland.
“We had to find a party that was for all ages, since the exchange students are under 21, and we wanted to find one with a live view of the ball drop. Others offered streaming but not a live view,” Lund said.
“The atmosphere and the different kinds of people who are there is great.”
Other packages include $499 to enter the AMC 42nd Street movie multiplex, which will be converted into a nightlife space on its four floors with the option to walk onto one of two terraces with sight lines of the Swarovski-encrusted ball. The event is limited to 400 people from the theater’s usual capacity of 1,500 to 2,000, Perla said.
Prices are inn-sane!
Those willing to really break the bank can head over to the Broadway Lounge at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, where the “prime couples’ package” — $6,250 per person — provides a table overlooking Times Square, open bar, dinner and a concert by former Kool & the Gang member Skip Martin.
The Renaissance New York Times Square is selling tickets to its R Lounge from $1,950 to $6,500 per person. The latter option provides a front-row “iconic view of the live ball drop and the revelers around you,” Perla said.
City dwellers, however, said you couldn’t pay them to step foot near the Crossroads of the World on New Year’s Eve.
“Who are these crazy people? They must be out of their minds,” restaurant consultant Donny Evans said.
“They are obviously out-oftowners. I don’t care who you are. I just think New Year’s Eve is such a rip-off in terms of prices. I wouldn’t go to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
“I’d rather have a good meal on the East Side or downtown for a third of the price.”