Jim Rosica
A South Florida lawmaker wants the official symbol of New Year’s Eve celebrations in the state to be “The Big Orange.”
State Sen. Gwen Margolis, a Miami-Dade Democrat, filed her bill (SB 606) on Wednesday.
As the legislation explains, the Big Orange – a 35-foot-wide, 2,000-pound, “LED-lighted icon” – was created 30 years ago “to ignite the same enthusiasm and anticipation as New York City’s Times Square” ball.
The smiling, sunglasses-wearing Big Orange drops down the side of Miami’s InterContinental Hotel.
It attracts “a diverse audience of 150,000 to 250,000 local revelers and international visitors annually, as well as a worldwide television viewership of more than 50 million,” the bill says.
Last year, Miami “hosted its very first live, family-friendly New Year’s Eve television special, conceived and co-produced by Latin Grammy Award-winning artist Pitbull,” the bill states. The rapper presided at that drop.
It was also featured in the 2013 launch of Viva Florida 500, the commemoration of the 1513 discovery of Florida by Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon.
