Crystal Ball 'Ready To Go' For Times Square New Year's Eve Celebration
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The New Year's Eve crystal ball is ready for the big show.
PHOTOS: Times Square New Year's Eve Ball Test
The nearly 12,000-pound ball was sent up a 130-foot pole atop One Times Square and illuminated during a test run Friday.
"I wait the whole year for this, so to actually be here on Dec. 30 and test the ball and know that everything is set, ready to go for tomorrow night, I'm going to sleep well tonight," said Jeffrey Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment.
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On New Year's Eve, at exactly one minute before midnight, the ball will begin its descent, reaching the bottom as 2017 begins.
Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will press the button to begin the ball drop.
On Thursday, organizers performed their annual confetti test, throwing handfuls of paper from the Hard Rock Cafe marquee.
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The team will drop more than a ton of confetti on the crowd when the clock strikes midnight.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he expects about 2 million people to pack Times Square on New Year's Eve.
Revelers will begin to be directed to secured viewing areas, starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
The NYPD will have 7,000 officers patrolling the area, and the city also plans on lining the streets with 65 garbage trucks filled with sand to block certain streets. That's in response to recent attacks in Germany and France where trucks were used to plow through crowds.
