The New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square is one of the holiday's most cherished traditions, and this year might be its best one yet. Fiskars Living's Tom Brennan joins Cheddar to reveal what makes this year's Waterford New Year's Eve Ball so special. The master artisan explains the painstaking process of creating the iconic scene as the clock strikes midnight.
Brennan reveals why Waterford chose "Gift of Serenity" as this year's theme. He says it represents the spirit of balance and composure heading into the new year. The ball features 288 new crystals that make up the pattern representing the theme.
Finally, Brennan shows off some of the other ways that Waterford is celebrating the holidays. The crystal company is using the New Year's ball as inspiration for some new products including champagne flutes. He says it's a creative way to bring the spirit of the Times Square celebration into your own home.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019.
The fallout continues over Amazon's decision to pull out of New York City. Many housing developers scooped up property in the area in anticipation of the 25,000 new employees that would have been coming to town. So what does that mean for the future of real estate in Long Island City? Amy Plitt from Curbed NY talked to Cheddar about how it will impact everything from rents to sidewalks.
If you are among the many who bought a condo in a glassy high-rise on the Queens waterfront sight unseen ー via text message ー when news broke last fall that Amazon was coming to town... well, that decision may not look so smart in the cold light of day on Friday.
Wham-O, a company best known for mass-marketing iconic toys like the hula hoop and Frisbee, manufactures most of its toys in China. But only now that has chosen to branch out into e-bikes does the company anticipate feeling the sting of the ongoing trade war. "To date, it hasn't really affected us that much," Wham-O President Todd Richards told Cheddar. "Now with this new technology and this new product, we foresee a little bit of a cost impact."
While his Fyre Fest business partner Billy McFarland does his time in prison, rapper Ja Rule is out living his truth, which ー as it turns out ー might include a revival of a Fyre Fest-like event.
TMZ caught Ja Rule at the Los Angeles airport, where he told the gossip site ー which is similar to the original Fyre booking app that the disastrous event was initially meant to launch ー will probably have its own festival.
When engineer Liz Fong-Jones took a job at Google 11 years ago, she was confident in her mission: to make "the world's information universally accessible and useful." But over time, she said she witnessed the company fail to protect its most vulnerable users, while turning a blind eye to the harassment of marginalized employees in its own workplace ー Fong-Jones among them.
Christina Ha, founder of the Meow Parlor, wasn't always a cat person. Ha, who is allergic to felines, paid them minimal attention until her husband brought one home ー and she fell deeply, madly in love (although she admitted she takes Benadryl daily). Eventually, her adoration became a bustling cat cafe in New York City. And now, she's adding another furry business to her portfolio ー cat camp.
Advancements in logistics and distribution are making it easier for entrepreneurs, especially women and minorities, to get their ideas out into the market, according to Interactive Advertising Bureau CEO Randall Rothenberg. "The supply chain is promiscuously available," Rothenberg to Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Feb, 15, 2019.
Actor and screenwriter Jay Baruchel didn't anticipate that "How to Train Your Dragon" would become a global phenomenon when he agreed to voice the lead role in the 2010 animated film. Now, about a decade later, the trilogy (and its accompanying franchise) is drawing to a close, and Baruchel is bracing himself for the end.
