Chicago saw in the new year with a number of events, including the city’s debut as part of the annual nationally televised event, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” where thousands gathered to watch Chance the Rapper usher in 2026. The raucous celebration, held at the corner of Wacke r Drive and Franklin Street, featured a concert and culminated in a countdown to midnight projected on the Merchandise Mart, followed by a fireworks display over the Chicago River. Six minutes later and about 4 miles away, a quieter celebration took place at Mount Sinai Hospital, when Brandon Alexander Whittington entered the world as what is believed to be the first Chicago baby of 2026. The 7-pound, 13-ounce boy was actually due on Christmas Day, but kept his parents, Shaniqua Jones and Brandon Antwon Whittington, waiting until the new year for his arrival. “We thought it was coming Christmas Day, so he’s a little late,” his father said Thursday morning from the hospital. To celebrate the first birth of the new year, the hospital presented the family with a gift basket filled with clothing, baby essentials and a gift card. The couple, who live in the West Garfield Park area, were oblivious to the nearby New Year’s Eve revelry until after the baby was born. Holed up inside the hospital, the mother of Chicago’s first baby of 2026 had other things on her mind. “I was having contractions, so all that didn’t matter,” said Jones, 33. Started in 1972, “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” is ABC-TV’s annual live countdown program from Times Square in New York. Ryan Seacrest has hosted the national broadcast for the past 20 years, taking the reins from the late Dick Clark. Over the years, the show has expanded to other cities, heading to Chicago for the first time to ring in 2026 as the Central time zone locale, with native son Chance the Rapper performing and leading a large crowd through an exuberant countdown to midnight. A large fireworks display over the Chicago River followed. Whittington, 38, who works as a cook at a Chicago KFC restaurant, caught wind of the post-countdown fireworks celebration when he went outside after the delivery for some air. The significance of the timing was not lost on him in the quiet reflection of a New Year’s morning. “Your baby’s the first baby of the year. You can’t even imagine what’s going through my brain right now at this point,” Whittington said. “I can’t wait to explain this to him when he gets older.” While Brandon Alexander Whittington apparently won the race to become the Chicago area’s first baby of 2026, there were several runners-up. Jacob Robert Patrick Kelly Jr., a 6-pound, 14-ounce boy, was born to Mattie Tengdin and Jacob Kelley of Crown Point, Indiana, at 1:29 a.m. at Franciscan Health Crown Point. Ana and Serghei Mindru of Yorkville welcomed a 6-pound, 13-ounce boy, Matthew, at 1:46 a.m. at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Bolingbrook. [email protected] ...read more read less