HUNDREDS of thousands of revelers, many dressed in bulky coats and hats, descended on Broadway and Seventh Avenue to celebrate the year's end and watch the ball drop from a flagpole atop One Times Square.
Carrie Graham, 33, of Texas came with her husband, James, 34, a banker, and son Alden, 6, to celebrate their daughter Ashley's 16th birthday. Ashley opened up the plane tickets for a present on Christmas-morning and cried, Carrie Graham said.
"She always wanted to come here, or own a horse," James Graham said.
Of her first trip to New York City, Ashley said, "I love it."
The family arrived in midtown at 3 p.m. and were standing right next to the stage in Times Square until the crowd grew too overwhelming and then moved further back.
"I feel like the security is safe," James Graham. "I feel good about that."
The police department deployed a "counterterrorism overlay" in Times Square, including thousands of uniformed and undercover officers, hand-held and vehicle-mounted radiation detectors, helicopters and observation towers, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
"Anyone who comes will have to go through magnetometers, perhaps as many as three times," to get to viewing areas, Kelly said Friday.
He said officers also were deployed to other events in the city, including a concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, fireworks in Brooklyn and fireworks at the Statue of Liberty.
"We always do things a little bit differently," Kelly said. "We don't want to get stuck in a rut, so some of our deployments will change."
The celebration will be the first since Pakistani immigrant Faisal Shahzad attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square on the evening of May 1. Shahzad pleaded guilty to the bombing attempt in June and was sentenced to life in prison.
Backpacks, large bags and alcohol were prohibited in Times Square and pocketbooks were inspected as revelers entered fenced-in viewing zones.
Just before 5 p.m., the closest many onlookers could get to the action was 49th Street.
Dawn Borchardt, 34, a registered nurse from St. Louis, came with her daughter Cassie Miller, 16, and Dawn's friend Jamie Seitz, 29, a labor and delivery surgical technician. They were far back in the crowd on Seventh Avenue between 49th and 50th streets.
To prepare for the night they wore long underwear and brought handwarmers and snacks.
"It's kind of overwhelming at first, kind of easy to get turned around but exciting," Borchardt said.
(source:newsday.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment