Celebrating New Year’s Eve at Times Square has been allowed with the following set of rules despite the surge in covid cases.
The Times Square Ball is a time ball located in New York City’s Times Square. Located on the roof of One Times Square, the ball is a prominent part of a New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square commonly referred to as the ball drop, where the ball descends down a specially designed flagpole, beginning at 11:59 pm, and resting at midnight to signal the start of the new year.
In recent years, the ball drop has been preceded by live entertainment, including performances by musicians.
The iconic New Year’s Eve ball drop at Times Square has been cleared to happen despite a surge of new Covid-19 Omicron variant cases at large. The number of attendees will be monitored with a crowd size cap and everyone is required to wear their mask on.
Typically some 58,000 New Yorkers gather to watch a giant ball drop marking the arrival of a new year, but next week the capacity will be reduced to 15,000. Times Square was largely empty on New Year’s Eve last year, with only essential workers and invited guests able to watch the ball drop from socially distanced areas.
In de Blasio’s tweet, he said: “New Yorkers have stepped up tremendously over the past years. There’s a lot to celebrate and the additional safety measures we’re announcing today will keep the fully vaccinated crowd at Times Square safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year.”
People planning to join the said outdoor event will not be allowed to enter the premises until 3 pm, which is much later than these previous years, and will also not be allowed to re-enter the event after leaving the Square for “any reason.”
The celebration will begin shortly before 6 pm and approximately at the same time, the ball will be raised to the top of the pole at One Times Square and as usual, the ball will make its descent starting at 11:59 pm to bring in the New Year.
In the pre-pandemic years, people were known to camp out the night before the said day or early on New Year’s Eve to snag a spot close to the ball drop and performance.
The revelers are required to were masks on top of the previous requirements of proof of being fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated means that as of December 31, a person received both shots of two-dose vaccines at least 14 days prior, or had the single-dose Johnson & Johnson jab at least 14 days before.
Vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or World Health Organization are from Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca/Oxford, Sinopharm/Sinovac.
de Blasio previously told CNN that they were hopeful of the annual New Year’s Eve Times Square celebration to go on as planned. The attendees are required to carry proof of their vaccination. The official site says that “Unvaccinated minors under the age of five must be accompanied by a vaccinated adult to enter the event.”
Tom Harris the president of Times Square Alliance applauded de Blasio’s decision. Harris stated: “We applaud the leadership of Mayor De Blasio in finding a way to welcome revelers into the Times Square on New Year’s Eve in an even safer way than we originally planned.”
“We’re actually very excited that we’re able to find a way to welcome revelers back in Times Square, and do it in a safe, responsible manner. In the middle of this recent outbreak,” he added.
The attendees can only enter Times Square from 6th Avenue or 8th Avenue on the evening of December 31st and aren’t permitted to carry certain restricted items such as alcohol, large coolers, picnic blankets, umbrellas, backpacks, and lawn or other folding chairs.
New York reported a “staggering” number of new Covid cases, nearly 11,000, across the city’s five boroughs the mayor said. And as Omicron cases surged in New York City the fate of Times Square had been in limbo. This is now being the most dominant variant in the country.
Several major world cities including Paris and London have canceled upcoming New Year festivities due to the Omicron surge.