NEW YORK (AP) – New York City police turned to familiar tactics ahead of Thursday’s New Year’s Eve celebrations and deployed bomb sniffer dogs and sand-filled sanitation trucks to protect against explosions.
But the department’s playbook this year contained an unusual mandate: to prevent crowds of any size from gathering in Times Square.
Referring to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, police closed the Crossroads of the World to vehicles and pedestrians at midnight and dispersed bystanders in a so-called “frozen zone” – the blocks around the ball that historically shoulder shrug. crowds.
The result, in the waning hours of 2020, was a Times Square that felt horribly empty. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea described the scene as “surreal”.
“It makes me a little sad,” said Cole Zieser, who recently moved to New York City. “It’s just not going to be what we wanted in New York.”
The coronavirus has been improving public life for months, and New Year’s Eve will be no different. This year, police said revealers heading to Times Square would not be allowed to leave police.
“If you think you can stand there and watch the ball, you’re mistaken,” said Terence Monahan, head of department, referring to the glittering crystal ball that lands next to a flagpole in Times Square every New Year. Eve to mark the stroke of midnight.
Mayor Bill de Blasio nevertheless promised: ‘It will be a joyous evening if ever there was one. Goodbye, 2020. Here comes something better: 2021. ”
“I can’t wait to get started” to edit the page on a year when New York became the center of the pandemic in the spring, the Democratic mayor said. The city has counted more than 25,000 deaths attributed to the virus.
The NYPD has announced a two-part freeze that will be expanded at 3 p.m. Even guests at five hotels in the area were told to stay inside.
“It’s dead,” said Ali Jameel, who owns a Times Square store. “We dream that it will come back as before.”
Juanita Holmes, head of patrol for the NYPD, urged prospective partygoers to ring ‘from the comfort of your home’ in 2021.
‘Getting to Times Square is a family tradition for some. It’s a bucket list item for others. But this year is different, ”she said. “I can not stress enough how important it is for everyone to stay home.”
The police station will continue to roll out heavy weapons teams, explosive dogs, drones and sand trucks. But he planned a drastically reduced presence in Times Square, including an 80% reduction in the typical workforce assigned to the area.
“We must always prepare for the worst in terms of counter-terrorism,” Shea said, “but the crowds will not be like in other years.”
This year’s celebration will unfold without the usual crowd of cheering, kissing revelers. Indeed, special guests, first responders and essential workers were expected to view the festivities from a private, spatial setting.
“It’s almost like a ‘Seinfeld’ episode,” Shea said, referring to the 1990s “Nothing About Nothing” show.
“It’s a ball that falls over nothing, where you can not see,” he said, “so that you might as well stay at home.” ‘
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Associated Press authors Jennifer Peltz and Tom Hays contributed to this report.