NYPD Announces Times Square New Year’s Preparations

The 11,875-pound iconic orb was so dazzling during the practice run it was hard to look at directly. The company will electrify the global countdown with its enhanced audio and pyrotechnic effects that will be seen on the large Toshiba Vision Screen mounted right below Times Square New Year’s Eve ball.

News Day reports that preparations are made in Times Square for its Waterford crystal ball as it will make a glittering entrance with the numerals 1 and 6 to signal the arrival of the New Year. Rooftop patrols and NYPD helicopters will keep an eye on the crowd, and plainclothes officers will blend in with revelers. At a new operations center in Downtown Manhattan, officers monitor thousands of camera feeds.

Majority will join a force of at least 6000 officers, including a new specialised counter-terrorism unit, as about a million people pack the blocks around Times Square.

“This is the best prepared city in this country to stop terrorism, and people should rest assured that they will be very well protected on New Year’s Eve”, De Blasio said.

The new batch of 1123 officers takes the ranks of the department to 36,000 – its highest number in about 20 years.

This year, the NYPD established a 500 person Special Response Unit that holds regular drills.

The concern comes after two devastating terrorists attacks in Paris this year and the recent San Bernadino shooting that left 14 dead.

Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth and Demi Lovato are among the musical guests schedule to perform this year.