Times Square end-of-year preparations in full swing

In order to facilitate the arrival of attendees, Times Square is closed to traffic on New Year’s Eve.

Moët & Chandon is putting itself at the center of New York’s Times Square New Year’s bash with a social media contest focused on consumers’ number one person.

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News Tom Brennan, master artisan from Waterford Crystal, talks about the construction of the Times Square ball.

On the 20th floor of the One Times Square building, engineers are laying out the wires for the fireworks that will accompany the ball’s drop.

“I can remember when I had a water bottle that froze solid one year as I was freezing out in the square”, he added.

“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.

“To actually have some warm weather, and dry?” This year’s design is christened “Gift of Wonder”, representing the third year in a decade-long “Greatest Gifts” series, which celebrates universal desires. The current ball weighs in at a whopping 11,875 pounds and measures 12 feet in diameter.

And while performances are aplenty, the star of the show is the ball itself, said Jeffrey Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment and co-producer of the event.

About 1 billion people around the world watch the NY celebration, which gives Waterford a yearly chance to shine.

All the embarrassing, heartbreaking and sad memories will then be recycled into confetti when Times Square rings in 2016 on Friday. “The ball dropped and that was it and people stood around”.