By RACHELLE BLIDNER
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Thick crowds of revelers packed Times Square in the hours before the midnight ball drop, resolving to celebrate New Year’s Eve with gusto and optimism, despite a year filled with headlines of extremist attacks and a heavy security presence.
Partygoers hailing from around the world began arriving at the famed Manhattan crossroads before dawn, awaiting an evening of pop star performances that culminates with a countdown and the descent of an 11,875-pound Waterford crystal ball to welcome the New Year to the nation’s largest city.
An estimated 1 million people were expected at the celebration, protected by an armada of 6,000 police officers – some in civilian clothes, many heavily armed – as well as rigid security screenings.
"This is the iconic New Year’s celebration for the world," New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton said. "We have no threats we’re aware of directed against this event tonight but nevertheless we still plan for the worst and then expect the best."
Some in the crowd admitted to being nervous to gather in such a famous location in the weeks after the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. Just hours earlier Thursday, an ex-con was charged in upstate New York with planning to carry out a New Year’s Eve attack at a bar to prove he was worthy of joining the Islamic State terror group.
Ashley Watters, 18, a freshman at Temple University hailing from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, called the threat of terrorism "the elephant in the room."
"I talked to my dad before I left and said ‘I love you and hopefully ISIS doesn’t come,’" said Watters. "My dad said, ‘Keep your eyes out.’ He feels the same way, you can’t live in fear. I’m not going to miss out on an opportunity."
Others were heartened by the massive security presence, which led Mayor Bill de Blasio – who will push the button to send the ball on its minute-long descent at 11:59 p.m. – and his police team to declare the city "the safest place in the world" on New Year’s Eve.
In addition to the swarms of police on the ground, officers kept watch over the crowd via security cameras, beaming images into a command center at police headquarters. Tactical officers spied from rooftops and a hovering helicopter. Other officers searched bags, at random, in subway stations.
"After the Paris incident we were really concerned, but we were sure that the security here would be absolutely top top," said Ann Alderton, 63, of Durban, South Africa. She was celebrating her 39th wedding anniversary with her husband, Rob. "I haven’t felt alarmed or afraid."
Daniel Mishaan, 19, of Guatemala City, Guatemala, said that while the security precautions, which keep partygoers penned in barricaded corrals all night, are a "pain in the neck," being in Times Square at midnight was still a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Police officials have acknowledged that there were limits to what they could do to ensure security, especially outside the tightly controlled blocks at the heart of the celebration.
The party to send off 2015 will feature musical acts – including Demi Lovato and Carrie Underwood – fireworks, confetti and temperatures that, to the relief of the bundled-up spectators, are excepted to stay well above freezing.
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Associated Press radio correspondent Julie Walker contributed to this report.
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