No crowd, but the Times Square Ball Drop is still happening. Here’s how.

No crowd, but the Times Square Ball Drop is still happening. Here’s how.

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Every December, the eyes of the world are set on New York, where a glittering crystal ball in Midtown Manhattan is a common opportunity for a fresh start. Hundreds of thousands gather in person; millions more watching television and waiting for a moment to join an annual ritual.

With a little excitement and anticipation, they turn their eyes to Times Square and start collecting them, starting at …

In March, as the pandemic swept through New York City, the groups responsible for the New Year’s Eve ball fall in Times Square realized it was unlikely to go as planned.

Broadway, an industry at the heart of Times Square’s appeal, closed for months. Major gatherings have been banned indefinitely, and several important city events have already been canceled. Rumors are flying in text messages and on Twitter that officials may close the city.

Organizers knew it would be devastating to cancel the festivities. New Year’s Eve in Times Square has become a symbol of a thriving and vibrant city of New York and has been in the middle of the holidays for decades.

… months before the celebration of this year, it seemed as if the collective ritual, one of the few left in an increasingly segmented society, could be threatened.

Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins said organizers were determined to drop the ball from his seat above the city. They also knew that crowds would flock to the area for more than a century, whether they were planning a celebration or not.

What remained unclear was whether and how the producers of the event would adapt the other customs of the night – the performances, the crowd and the confetti – to the reality of the pandemic.

“We knew we had to be prepared for a crowd, no matter what,” he said. Tompkins said. And then it was just a question of ‘oh my God, how are we going to do this? ‘

Over months of planning, an answer emerged. This year, Times Square closed to the public on New Year’s Eve for the first time in decades. Only production workers and dozens of select front-line workers and their families are allowed near the stage.

Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Wednesday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.

“Absolutely no spectators were allowed in Times Square,” Chief Terence A. Monahan, the top uniformed member, told a news conference.

“Do not even try to get there and look at it,” he added.

As every year, the city will close streets in the area and police officers will install checkpoints to prevent access. But instead of letting visitors in droplets, all uninvited guests will be turned away, with pedestrians starting Thursday at 3 p.m. Chief Monahan said police will have 80 percent fewer officers in Times Square than on a regular New Year’s Eve.

“Anyone who starts to congregate, they will be told to pull together,” he said. “We’re not going to let people stand on the street corner and get up.”

per-eight-foot pens will be distributed on the street at social intervals. They will employ about 40 workers who make the city and country function safely and smoothly in the darkest hours of the year and who are invited to bring their families along to celebrate.

On the guest list is a pediatrician at Elmhurst Hospital, a public hospital overwhelmed by the pandemic; a driver of a pizza delivery who became ill with the coronavirus; and Ronald Colbert, a Staten ferry operator who will attend his 40th ball at Times Square.

“I am just as honored and happy,” he said. Colbert, 66, who worked through the pandemic, said. “The elements of the excitement that Times Square offers – I can share it again.”

Avenue will not be crowded with people who want to see a glimpse of the outdoor concert, which is offered according to state and industrial guidelines for safe media productions.

This year’s musical guests include Gloria Gaynor singing ‘I Will Survive’, a disco classic that has resurfaced as a pandemic national anthem, as well as performances by Jennifer Lopez, Billy Porter and Cyndi Lauper.

feet apart will remain the rule for the television workers who will broadcast Times Square’s billboards across the country. For those staying home, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin ‘Eve with Ryan Seacrest” will continue to air on ABC. In a year without party jokes, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen are once again presenting their New Year’s Eve comedy on CNN.

The TV networks will project the image of a Times Square transformed by the pandemic, without the crowd of revealers in glittering equipment waiting for hours in the cold to take part in a national spectacle.

Yet Mr. Tompkins and Jeff Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment, which has the co-producer of the Times Square event, said it was important to them that there would be an audience of some kind if circumstances allowed.

“There is energy you get to be happy after other people,” he said. Straus said.

During the spring, when the pandemic plagued New York City, photos of an ominous empty Times Square became a gloomy meme. The deserted square has become a lasting image of the crisis and a visual shorthand for the devastating conditions the virus has wrought.

With the conclusion of 2020 and the calendar recovery, both men hoped they could offer a fresh start and a new story for one of the world’s most famous crosses.

“We want to show a city with a heartbeat,” he said. Straus said. “And a city that lives.”

months ago, in July, Mr. Straus and mr. Tompkins got the first hint that a celebration similar to recent years would be possible.

Ever since 1904, Times Square has been celebrating its biggest New Year’s Eve, when hundreds of thousands gathered in Midtown Manhattan to watch fireworks illuminate the newly built New York Times building, now known as One Times Square.

The ball was first dropped in 1907. Since then, it has been dropped almost every year on New Year’s Eve, with only interruptions in 1942 and 1943 due to the “dimouts” of World War II, which required lights to be turned off as a protection. against air strikes.

But even without looking at the ball, massive crowds still gathered at Times Square for more muted celebrations described in The Times as a ‘strange trait’ in the first year, but ‘gayer’ and ‘bigger’ the next year.

“So much of the energy comes from the hordes of people,” he said. Tompkins said, who has been involved in the ball fall since 2002. “And there will definitely be another energy in Times Square.”

The fact that there would be energy at all was still barely guaranteed. Although organizers continued with planning, they watched nervously as a number of similarly large events were canceled by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

The days in July, however, the city worked with Macy’s to reconfigure its annual fireworks extravaganza.

For mr. Straus and mr. Tompkins was a clear sign that city officials were determined to preserve the traditions of New York while keeping people safe at home.

other events have also helped to prove that a changed New Year’s Eve is feasible, said Mr. Straus said.

The MTV Video Music Awards presented a template for music performances. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade showed audiences welcoming a scaled-down tradition, and the Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree lighting proved that large-scale events can take place safely, even in the midst of a boom in the pandemic.

Those who watch the New Year’s Eve ceremonies this year, whether on television or via the official online broadcast, should expect a more intimate viewing experience, said Mr. Straus said. (People looking for something more immersive can also download an app that uses augmented reality to bring Times Square home.)

blocks around Times Square will be used for this year’s celebration, a much smaller footprint than usual. The reduced scale will probably be clear on the camera, said Mr. Straus said. The cattle shots indicating a block-long street party will be added. Mr. Straus says that close-ups do not smile because faces will be covered.

“We want to show a physical distance from Times Square,” he said. Straus said. We want to show a Times Square wearing masks. ‘

For the first time in 26 years, Straus will not be in Times Square, overloaded with confetti when the clock strikes midnight.

In a break with tradition, he will be watching TV with a large part of the country, as it counts at the end of a cruel year and wants to make a fresh start in the next …

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