Westchester County Towns Celebrate New Year's With Balloons, Ball Drop
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- While around a million revelers are expected to celebrate their New Year's Eve in Times Square tonight, other suburban areas are preparing for their own celebrations, too.
The balloons dropped early into the three-story atrium at New Roc City in New Rochelle -- the climax of a high-decibel high-energy exercise in juvenile jubilation designed to give kids a taste of the upcoming evening celebration and hopefully tire them out for the final hours yet to come.
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"Kids will be going to bed," Brian Rossa, of New Rochelle, told CBS2's Lou Young. "This was their New Year's, with the balloons."
Some are headed to places like the Brazen Fox in White Plains -- a Westchester County town with a ball drop of its own. The celebration will be held in White Plains' Renaissance Square, with tens of thousands of revelers expected to attend.
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The bars and restaurants along the White Plains downtown strip will all be jammed. Cabs will be available beginning at 11 p.m., and there will be no charge anywhere in Westchester county.
The New Year Safe Ride effort is one of many free ride programs available tonight. The cops are warning celebrants to be careful.
"There's absolutely no excuse," said White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong. "Police assets are out there and, frankly, that's what we're looking for."