The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said Monday it continues to operate under a “threat environment” ahead of the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square.
More than a million visitors are expected in Times Square on Tuesday to attend the 120th annual New Year’s Eve ball drop tradition.
This year, the NYPD’s class of more than 600 new recruits will serve their first briefings Tuesday night. In a press conference about security arrangements on Monday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said there were no concrete threats to the Times Square event at this time, but the department had been operating in a “highly sensitive environment” since the one-year anniversary. October 7, 2023, the attack on Israel.
New York City has seen many anti-Israel protests, including encampments, anti-Semitic chants and clashes with police seen at Columbia University and New York University earlier this year.
ERIC ADAMS IS REPORTED TO SIGN UP TO COOPERATE WITH TRUMP, PREPARING TO BREAK THROUGH SENSITIVITY.
“We remain vigilant,” Tisch told reporters. “The public can expect to see a large number of police resources deployed throughout the area and throughout the city. That includes members of our special forces, including emergency services, who will be strategically deployed throughout the rooftop area. Our K-9 teams, who will be patrolling with bomb-sniffing dogs, will be in the sky monitoring the event and surrounding areas with special attention to bridges and other landmarks. Also, our drones will be sent up to monitor the crowds in real time and watch for any suspicious or unusual activity.
Last year, the NYPD had four drone teams inside a “bow tie” and “frozen zone” around Times Square on New Year’s Eve. That will increase to six drone teams — four inside the bow tie and two on the outer perimeter — this year, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said, adding that mobile drone teams will also operate around Manhattan and across the city and monitor activity. what is being done. and water as well.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference at City Hall after meeting with incoming “border king” Tom Homan on Thursday, December 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
A reporter at a press conference asked the NYPD if any additional security measures were being brought to Times Square after the alleged terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Germany last week. A Saudi Arabian psychiatrist has reportedly been arrested in connection with a December 20 drive-by shooting at a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, that killed five people, including a nine-year-old boy, and injured more than 200.
“Every year we build our program based on incidents that happen around the world, right here in the city,” said Rebecca Weiner, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism for the NYPD. “The Christmas markets – you recently flagged the terrible incident in Germany involving the Christmas markets – are ongoing victims, very vulnerable, so, without a doubt, New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world, that’s why we put a lot of emphasis. all the resources here are focused on keeping this city and this event safe and therefore it is completely measured by what happens abroad.
Noting the security measures for car break-ins, including NYPD trucks and cars being blocked off at the scene, Weiner added, “We really hope it’s a safe and fun night for everyone.”
People participate in the New Year’s Eve Confetti Parade in Times Square on Dec. 29, 2024, New York City. On New Year’s Eve, 3,000 pounds of confetti will be released in Times Square. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
The NYPD was also called upon to deal with the emerging threat of a Venezuelan gang known as the Tren de Aragua (TdA). Weiner said there was no specific gang-related threat regarding the Times Square event, but that the TdA case “is just a persistent thing that we deal with in a lot of crime issues that we’re able to deal with throughout the year.”
“There’s a lot of work being done by our detective bureau, the patrol bureau, our intel bureau and our counterterrorism bureau,” he said. “This is an issue that we are dealing with and not specifically New Year’s Eve, Times Square. But other threats that have recently emerged, patterns of crime that have recently emerged that we have also tried to combat early and very deeply so that we cannot be infiltrated by some of these criminals here in the city that you have seen elsewhere in the country.”
The NYPD will also use pickpocket teams, as well as “hotel response teams” to monitor for suspicious activity or other “strange” events.
Aerial photo taken on New Year’s Eve in Times Square on Dec. 31, 2023. (Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images)
Tisch said all pits, mailboxes, vending machines and waste baskets in the “frozen area” around Times Square will be closed or removed, and frozen safety lanes will be constructed around the event using barricades and concrete barriers.
“And, as usual, there will be many security measures that you will not see,” said the police commissioner. “No one handles major events like this better than the NYPD, but we’re not doing it alone. The Joint Operations Center will work closely with all of our city, state, and federal partners.”
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Amid a spate of subway crimes and murders — notably, the deportation of Daniel Penny and the arrest of an undocumented immigrant accused of burning a sleeping woman — New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials are still urging crowds to use public transportation until the Times’ New Year’s Eve event. Square. Despite forecasts of rain, NYPD officials said no umbrellas will be allowed in the viewing area. Backpacks, large bags, coolers, chairs and alcohol are also prohibited.
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