9 for Times Square's 2009 sign arrives by ferry

[December 18, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- They say time flies. Well, 2009 is already here -- but the last piece of it traveled in on a Hudson River boat.

A 500-pound, 7-foot-tall numeral 9 arrived at a Manhattan dock Wednesday, brought by a New York Waterway ferry. It was then driven to Times Square to complete the 2009 sign that will ring in the new year two weeks from now with the dropping of the famous ball.

Organizers of the New Year's Eve party were on hand to add the 9 to its colleagues: 2, 0 and the other 0.

Last year, the 8 for the 2008 sign came by subway from the Bronx factory where it was made. Like many commuters, it had to change trains in midjourney, transferring from a "6" train to the "N/R" line.

[Associated Press]

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