NEW YORK (AP) – New York City police resorted to family tactics ahead of Thursday night’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, deploying dogs sniffing bombs and sand trucks full of sand to protect them. of explosions.
But the department’s playbook included an unusual mandate this year: to prevent crowds of any size from gathering in Times Square.
Citing concerns about the spread of COVID-19, police closed the world crossroads to vehicles and pedestrians at midnight and dispersed spectators venturing into a so-called “frozen zone,” the blocks surrounding the ball they historically draw. shoulder to shoulder crowds.
The result, in the waning hours of 2020, was a Times Square that felt strangely 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 just won’t be what we wanted, what everyone dreams of in New York.”
The coronavirus has revolted public life for months and New Year’s Eve will be no different. This year, according to police, partygoers heading to Times Square will not be allowed to cross the police lines.
“If you think you can stand there and look at the ball, you’re wrong,” department head Terence Monahan said, referring to the glittering crystal ball coming down a flagpole in Times Square every Cape Year Eve to mark the stroke of midnight.
However, Mayor Bill de Blasio promised: “It will be a happy night, if there has been one. Goodbye, 2020. Something better is coming: 2021.”
“I can’t wait to get started” turning a page a year when New York became an epicenter of the pandemic in the spring, the Democratic mayor said. The city has counted more than 25,000 culprits of the virus.
The NYPD announced a two-part freeze that will become broader at 3 p.m. Even guests from five hotels in the area have said they stay inside.
“He’s dead,” said Ali Jameel, a store owner a block from Times Square. “We dream of him coming back as before.”
Juanita Holmes, NYPD’s patrol chief, urged party-goers to ring in 2021 “from the comfort of your own home”.
“Coming to Times Square is a family tradition for some. It is a container list item for other people. But this year is different, ”he said. “I can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone to stay home.”
The police department will continue to deploy heavy weapons equipment, dogs exploring explosives, drones and sand trucks. But it has planned a drastically reduced presence in Times Square, including an 80% reduction in its workforce assigned to the area.
“We must always prepare for the worst in terms of anti-terrorist overlaps,” Shea said, “but the crowds will not be as they were in other years.”
This year’s celebration will take place without the usual crowds of partygoers applauding and kissing. In fact, the event’s special guests, first-timers and essential workers, were expected to attend the festivities from a private, well-spaced area.
“It’s almost like an episode of ‘Seinfeld,'” Shea said, invoking the 1990s “without showing anything.”
“It’s a drop of ball that you don’t see at all, where you can’t see,” he said, “so you can stay home, too.”
__
Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz and Tom Hays contributed to this report.