Posted on 12/27/2021 5:38:22 AM PST by DoodleBob
Amid the sharp increase of COVID-19 cases, the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration will be scaled back, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday. While the public can still attend, the capacity will be lowered and both vaccination and masking will be required.
Under the new plan, all attendees over 5 years of age will need to provide proof of full vaccination (which was received by December 17th) along with a valid photo ID, and will need to be masked while in the outdoors pens. Spectators won't be allowed to enter until 3 p.m. on December 31st, which is much later than previous years when people would start entering Times Square early in the morning to stake out spots. Further, the crowd will be limited to 15,000 people—usually there are closer to 60,000—to allow for social distancing.
"New Yorkers have stepped up tremendously over the past year—we are leading the way on vaccinations, we have reopened safely, and every day we work toward building a recovery for all of us," de Blasio said in a statement. "There is a lot to celebrate and these additional safety measures will keep the fully vaccinated crowd safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year.”
Last year's New Year's Eve celebration was closed to the public; instead, there were musical performances, with a small group of essential workers invited to watch while in socially-distanced pens.
In November, when De Blasio and the Times Square Alliance said festivities would return to Times Square this year, the plan was to allow unvaccinated attendees if they wore masks. However, the new omicron variant's transmissibility has sent COVID case counts rising exponentially, demanding a change in protocol.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who canceled his indoor January 1st inauguration, voiced his support of the adjustment: "New York is the best place in the world to celebrate New Year’s Eve and now it will be one of the safest against COVID as well. The Mayor has made the right move to take precautionary measures as we learn to live with COVID and fight the Omicron variant—and New Yorkers and visitors alike can now enjoy Times Square and the rest of our city as we ring in 2022."
De Blasio had expressed reluctance to completely cancel the event, saying on Tuesday, "The goal, of course, is to keep it going, because it's such an important event for New Yorkers and for the whole world."
Times Square Alliance president Tom Harris said, "We applaud the leadership of Mayor de Blasio in finding a way to welcome revelers into Times Square on New Year's Eve in an even safer way than we originally planned. This year revelers will be fully vaccinated, masked, and we will have reduced occupancy in the viewing areas. We understand that everyone will not be able to be here but welcome them to experience New Year's Eve in Times Square from our live webcast, on one of the networks or on the VNYE app.”
The event will be streaming on a number of sites, including TimesSquareNYC.org, NewYearsEve.nyc, LiveStream.com/2022 and TimesSquareBall.net.
A stockyard with a hip hop soundtrack on new years eve. No thanks.
I said this is how they should have treated the “pandemic” early on.
Space the seats out at arenas.
Warn people it’s at their own risk.
Don’t stop people from walking on trails or take all the benches away.
Or,working.
They can’t resist the urge to pretend they are doing something.
Control freaks.
There are quite a few things I’m not interested in doing if the answer to, “Where is the bathroom?” is unsatisfactory.
Fireworks are semi-legal here. I’m sure there will be some, now you mention it. Cats will be unhappy.
Nothing says “Home of the Brave, Land of the Free” like 15k hand picked sheep bleating in unison.
Yep there are plenty of great shows to watch via streaming. Celebrity Roasts from the seventies when people still had a sense of humor, concerts where no one is wearing a mask.
Sigh the good old days. 2021 made 2020 look like a paradise.
I remember riding a PATH train back to NJ and simply peeing and smoking in between cars...back then that was the least of their concerns.
imbed a chip in the back of the kid’s neck
************
Yep that would work for those that have chip readers....
The last time I heard about the diapers part was for the celebration in 2000. The demand for the hotel rooms in the neighborhood was incredible, and people were willing to pull a stunt like this to watch such a year come in.
(I may be wrong, but I'm close enough to NYC and to that event that if the diaper-wearing was a regular occurrence, I would have heard about it.)
Once the practice begins, necessity, the mother of invention, will provide a phone ap
It's a bucket list thing; you've done it and you can move on.
The real trick to doing this is to be at one of the private parties inside Times Square where you get outside for 20-30 minutes to experience the hype, count down with the crowd, and watch the ball drop. Then you go back in to the warm building.
Interesting article on chip implants. Coming sooner than
most people realize.
https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/technology/innovation/technology-under-your-skin/
I enjoy watching the Times Square NYE festivities...in my warm home...on my computer...with an adult beverage. It’s been a tradition in my home for years since I discovered I could watch it LIVE on the Internet, rather than tape-delayed on TV.
And I enjoy singing along with Frank Sinatra after The Ball drops as they play “New York, New York” for the folks in Times Square.
Sure, since I’m on the West Coast, I celebrate NYE three hours early, but what the hay.
(The only thing I don’t like but tolerate is their tradition of one of the musical guests singing the woke anthem “Imagine” as their traditional last song before midnight.)
Hmmm........ in Sweeden the chips are apparently here, now.
There are privacy concerns that must be acknowledged. However as a basic ID there should be no problem for most people.
For kids, no more roll call “here”. They were checked in coming in through the classroom door to take their seats at their laptops
If Noo Yawk wants to ruin their tourist trade, what do Southerners (like me) care? I don’t plan to ever set foot there again. I’d rather they make their status official, being a different country that does not honor the Constitution of the United States.
They should move the NYE party to Miami. Move the “ball” there. They can do it over South Beach. The weather is better anyway.
I am fine with this decision. They should probably do away with it anyhow. New York City that is.
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