Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the globe will descend on Manhattan on Tuesday to welcome the new year at midnight by watching a scintillating orb drop 66.7 feet in 60 seconds amid storms of confetti.
The celebration is a quintessential New York moment for which the city spends months preparing. On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials laid out plans to ensure a safe and festive evening.
Here is what to know ahead of New Year’s Eve.
What Goes Up …
The Times Square celebration will kick off shortly before 6 p.m. with a performance of the national anthem, followed by the lighting and raising of the New Year’s Eve ball.
The Times Square Alliance has lined up 12 performers, including Rita Ora and the Jonas Brothers, to entertain the crowd before Mr. Adams pushes the button to drop the ball at midnight.
The New Year’s Eve ball weighs more than 11,000 pounds and is covered with more than 2,600 crystal triangles and over 32,000 lights. It will fall alongside 3,000 pounds of confetti that will rain down on the crowd.
The night is expected to be chilly, with temperatures between 36 and 50 degrees. Rain is very likely — forecasters said the chance is 100 percent before 1 a.m. — and could be heavy at times, according to the National Weather Service forecast on Monday. Up to three-quarters of an inch of precipitation is possible.
Navigating New York
The Police Department will begin closing off an area from 39th to 57th streets between Fifth and Ninth Avenues at 4 a.m. Tuesday.
Subways will run nonstop. The N, Q and R lines will skip the 49th Street stop and the uptown 1 train will skip 50th Street.
People can begin entering the designated viewing areas at 3 p.m. through openings where 49th, 52nd and 56th Street intersect with Sixth and Eighth Avenues. All attendees will be screened by counterterrorism personnel.
Spectators will not be allowed to re-enter if they leave a viewing area.
Be prepared for a wet and sober celebration: Attendees cannot bring backpacks, chairs, coolers, large bags or alcohol or umbrellas.
Don’t Mind the Drones
Jessica Tisch, New York’s police commissioner, said Monday that there are no specific threats, but that the department will keep security tight.
The Police Department will have about 10 drone teams operating, six more than last year. Each team will be scouring the city for suspicious activity, anomalies and emergencies.
More than 600 new police recruits will be out in the streets for their first-ever detail, along with uniformed and plainclothes officers and bomb-sniffing dogs. The department is also deploying several specialized units, including its pick-pocketing, aviation, emergency services and hotel response teams.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the State Police, National Guard, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and Port Authority will have officers patrolling airports, bridges, tunnels and mass transit systems.
Four Centuries of New Years’ Eves
The holiday falls on the last day of New York’s 400th anniversary year. New Yorkers did not begin celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square until 1904, and the first ball didn’t take its plunge until 1907.
During the first celebration, explosions erupted at midnight. It was an idea that stemmed from the desire of Adolph S. Ochs, publisher of The New York Times, to show off the namesake newspaper’s new building at the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. The Times even hired the chemist who created the pyrotechnic displays for William McKinley’s presidential inauguration to craft the fiery spectacle.
The first New Year’s Eve ball was built of iron and wood by an immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr.
The ball was not dropped in 1942 and 1943 because of wartime blackouts. Still, droves of people gathered in Times Square to ring in the new year — as they are sure to as 2024 ends and 2025 begins.
The post What to Know About Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square appeared first on New York Times.
