Covid-19: No crowd allowed for New Year’s Eve celebrations at Times Square

New York City police turned to acquainted ways forward of Thursday’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, deploying bomb-sniffing canine and sand-filled sanitation vehicles supposed to protect towards explosions.But the division’s playbook included an uncommon mandate this 12 months: stopping crowds of any measurement from gathering in Times Square.Citing issues over the unfold of COVID-19, police closed the Crossroads of the World to autos and pedestrians at midnight and dispersed onlookers venturing right into a so-called “frozen zone” — the blocks surrounding the ball that traditionally draw shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.The end result, within the waning hours of 2020, was a Times Square that felt eerily empty. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea described the scene as “surreal.”“It makes me a little bit sad,” mentioned Cole Zieser, who not too long ago moved to New York City. “It’s just not going to be what we wanted, what everyone dreams about in New York.”The coronavirus has upended public life for months, and New Year’s Eve shall be no completely different. This 12 months, police mentioned, revelers headed to Times Square gained’t be permitted previous police strains.“If you think you’re going to be able to stand there and watch the ball, you’re mistaken,” Chief of Department Terence Monahan mentioned, referring to the glittering, crystal ball that descends down a flagpole in Times Square every New Year’s Eve to mark the stroke of midnight.Still, Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed, “It’s going to be a joyous night, if ever there was one. Goodbye, 2020. Here comes something better: 2021.”“I cannot wait to get started” turning the web page on a 12 months when New York grew to become an epicenter of the pandemic in spring, the Democratic mayor mentioned. The metropolis has counted over 25,000 deaths blamed on the virus.The NYPD introduced a two-part freeze that can turn into extra expansive at 3 p.m. Even visitors at 5 lodges within the space have been informed to remain inside.“It’s dead,” mentioned Ali Jameel, who owns a retailer a block from Times Square. “We are dreaming for it to come back again like before.”Juanita Holmes, chief of patrol for the NYPD, urged would-be partygoers to ring in 2021 “from the comfort of your home.”“Coming to Times Square is a family tradition for some. It is a bucket list item for others. But this year is different,” she mentioned. “I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for everyone to stay home.”The Police Department will nonetheless roll out heavy weapons groups, explosive-sniffing canine, drones and sand vehicles. But it has deliberate a drastically scaled-back presence in Times Square, together with an 80% discount in its typical workforce assigned to the world.“We always have to prepare for the worst in terms of counterterrorism overlays,” Shea mentioned, “but the crowds will not be like they were in other years.”This 12 months’s celebration will unfold with out the standard throngs of cheering, kissing revelers. Indeed, the occasion’s particular visitors, first responders and important staff, have been anticipated to look at the festivities from a non-public, well-spaced space.“It’s almost like a ‘Seinfeld’ episode,” Shea mentioned, invoking the Nineties “show about nothing.”“This is a ball drop about nothing, where you can’t see,” he mentioned, “so you may as well stay home.”__Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz and Tom Hays contributed to this report.