The reigning Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach greeted the New Year during her first visit to the Big Apple.

According to a post in the official Facebook account of the Miss Universe, Wurtzbach greeted her followers for the year ahead.

She said it was her first time to witness the annual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop at Times Square in New York.

“My first time to spend New Years in New York. I just watched the ball drop! This is beyond exciting – New Years here is the best!” Wurtzbach said.

After three attempts at the Binibining Pilipinas pageant, Wurtzbach, a Filipina-German beauty, won the pageant this year as the Philippines representative to the Miss Universe.

She eventually won the crown during the most controversial Miss Universe pageant yet after host Steve Harvey made the mistake of crowning the wrong queen Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez, who had to be decrowned on live television to give way to the rightful queen.