Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will lead the New Year’s Eve countdown in Times Square on Tuesday night.
{mosads}Event organizers announced Sunday that Sotomayor, who grew up in the Bronx, will “push the Waterford Crystal button to signal the lowering of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball” a minute before midnight.
Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkins told The New York Times that the group picked Sotomayor because of her inspirational story of becoming the first Hispanic justice and her message to dream big.
While Sotomayor will be the first justice to lead the drop, other politicians have previously participated in the event. Bill and Hillary Clinton led the drop in 2008, while Secretary of State Colin Powell led it in 2004.
Last year, the Rockettes were chosen to lead the drop.