New Year's Eve in Times Square security announced as 1 million revelers will pack in to celebrate 2025
NEW YORK -- It's almost time for New Year's Eve in Times Square, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch held a security briefing Monday to explain how it will run smoothly.
An estimated 1 million revelers are expected to pack the Crossroads of the World to see the ball drop Tuesday night.
"The Times Square New Year's Eve celebration has been a tradition for 120 years now, and we take immense pride in how this historic event showcases the very best of New York City," Tisch said. "For the NYPD, it's not just a celebration of the New Year, but also a tradition introducing our newest police officers to the job."
"This is the crossroads of the entire planet right here in New York City. People tune in at different locations and celebrate, as we do the countdown for the New Year," Adams added. "I'm really excited, as we have spent so much time and preparation to ensure that not only do we respond to any immediate threat, as we saw two years ago, but how do we continue to keep New Yorkers and visitors safe to enjoy the New Year... Every year, thousands of people across the globe come here to Times Square to celebrate and do something that I think is important, they spend a lot of money. And I'm going to encourage them to continue to do so."
The mayor said there will be officers in plainclothes, on horseback, in helicopters and on boats, along with K9 units.
"The full compliment of our police personnel will be here. Pedestrian and vehicle closures will be in effect, so please use public transportation to get to the event," he said. "Security is everyone's responsibility, so if you see something, say something, but most importantly, do something. Notify any uniformed personnel in the area."
No credible threats to New Year's Eve celebration, NYPD says
The FBI considers the biggest threats to the New Year's Eve celebration to be lone offenders and small groups acting on behalf of extremist groups here and abroad, law enforcement sources said.
Tisch said there are no specific, credible threats to the celebration, but added the department has been "operating in a heightened threat environment" since the Oct. 7 attack last year.
"The public can expect to see a tremendous amount of police resource deployed throughout the area and across the city. That includes members of some of our elite specialized units, including our Emergency Services Unit, who will be strategically deployed throughout the area on rooftops, our K9 teams, who will patrol bomb sniffing dogs," she said. "Our Aviation Unit will be in the skies scanning the event and the surrounding area, with special attention to the bridges and other landmarks. And, of course, our drones will be deployed overhead to monitor the crowds in real time and watch for any suspicious or unusual activity."
Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement New York State Police will be at maximum staffing on New Year's Eve and there will be stepped-up security at transportation hubs and critical infrastructure.
"As we gather in New York City to celebrate the start of a new year, I've directed our State agencies to take all necessary steps to ensure that New Yorkers and visitors can celebrate safely and peacefully," the governor wrote. "Public safety is my top priority, and I am committed to using every tool at our disposal to keep you safe."
The National Guard, MTA and Port Authority Police will also be at the ready, Hochul said.
New Year's Eve street closures and police checkpoints
Street closures start at 4 a.m. Tuesday. Police will have vehicles lining the zone around Times Square, which will be closed to traffic from 39th Street to 57th between Fifth and Ninth avenues.
"Sanitation trucks, sand trucks, blocker cars," said Rebecca Winer, NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism. "It's a way to harden the perimeter around an area that is very densely populated with buildings and people, and, obviously, you don't want to prevent ingress of a vehicle into this pedestrian zone."
The perimeter was expanded after an Isis-inspired attack at a police checkpoint two years ago.
Counterterrorism officers will screen spectators on 49th, 52nd and 56th streets along Sixth and Eighth avenues this year. The checkpoints open at 3 p.m. and reentry is not allowed.
As our First Alert Weather team has been forecasting, it's supposed to rain Tuesday night, but officials say umbrellas will not be allowed beyond the security checkpoints.
Backpacks, coolers and chairs are also banned.
New Year's Eve ball drop test in Times Square
The annual ball drop test was also held Monday. Organizers practiced raising and lowering the ball before sending it up the 139-foot flagpole atop One Times Square. They also flipped the giant switch to check the kaleidoscope of colors put on by more than 32,000 energy-efficient LEDs.
Last week, the last of the 2,688 Waterford crystals were screwed into the ball, enabling it to show off a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns.
This year will be the current ball's final run. Organizers say a new one, with a completely different design, will be unveiled next year.
Over the weekend, they held the confetti test. More than 3,000 pounds will be released to usher in 2025, containing thousands of wishes from people who submitted them at the New Year's Eve Wishing Wall.
