Apparently, New Year's Eve is high time in restaurants for the old dine and dash. That's what industry types call the ugly, ugly practice of deliberately walking out on a check.
The dine and dash tends to show up on New Year's Eve, especially at restaurants that are close to good vantage points for watching fireworks. Unlike a typical evening when tables finish up one at a time, diners New Year's Eve at these restaurants all want their checks at the same time, just around 11:40 p.m.
Bad, bad people depend on the ensuing confusion. They walk out, looking as though they might return after the fireworks, but they never come back.
That's stealing!!! Restaurants are onto these scofflaws, though, so if you're a bad person, don't try it this year.