New Yorkers who suffered a tough 2007 took their anger out on photographs of ex-husbands, old letters and cell phones on Friday, consigning their bad memories to a giant shredder.
"I got rid of my ex-fiancee after five and a half years," said Pierre Lucien, 47, "I shredded her picture, because I have very bad memories."
The event took place on the Times Square that on Monday night was packed with hundreds of thousands of New Year revellers. Most of those at the "Good Riddance Day" came with bad memories they were keen to forget.
"I shredded the obsession to drink, the obsession to use drugs, the obsession to women," said one man in his 40s. "I am recovering. I have 32 days clean today and I wanna continue, this is a good start."
Geraldine, a 36-year-old Ecuadoran woman, came with her two daughters to symbolically say goodbye to her ex-husband. "He behaved badly and then left us," she explained.
One woman was destroying a pile of papers: "10 years of a bad relationship," she said, smiling.
Joe Costanella brought alongthe bane of his life: a garbage can bought by his wife. To the surprise of onlookers, he took a sledgehammer to the can, prompting others to throw in cellphones for similar treatment.
At the end of the event, a garbage truck took away the shredded papers for recycling. A 250 dollar prize for the most creative act of riddance went to New Yorker Eileen Lawrence, who symbolically shredded her former boss.
