Streets in and around Times Square will be closed to car traffic hours before the ball drops and police cars and sand-filled sanitation trucks will be positioned to stop vehicles from driving into the crowd.Įveryone showing up for the confetti-filled festivities should expect to be wanded with metal detectors before being ushered to one of 65 viewing pens set up around Times Square to prevent overcrowding.īackpacks, chairs and coolers are banned, as well as personal drones. The police commissioner says that Times Square is the safest place on Earth on this day. “This is going to be one of the most well-policed, well-protected celebrations in the entire world and we'll have another safe and enjoyable New Year's Eve,” Shea said. Shea said spectators should feel safe but encouraged them to remain vigilant and alert an officer or call a police hotline if they feel something is amiss. Post Malone, BTS and Alanis Morissette are scheduled to perform on stages in the heart of Times Square.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said there are no specific, credible threats to the event, which brings hundreds of thousands of people to midtown Manhattan and attracts millions of TV viewers. “Times Square is probably going to be the safest place on the planet Earth on New Year's Eve because nobody else puts that kind of effort into an event like this,” Miller said.
The NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism, John Miller, said stacking various security tools and techniques gives police “multiple chances to catch something coming through.” This year's forecast calls for some clouds, but no rain and none of the bitter cold that iced out spectators two years ago.