Despite the COVID hitting New York again, the “city that never sleeps” is preparing to celebrate the New Year on the iconic Times Square in the heart of Manhattan, with its famous descent of the ball, its countdown and its release of confetti.
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On December 31, 2020, after terrible months of the coronavirus epidemic, the colorful and musical event, renowned around the world, was held in an almost empty square.
This year, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio – succeeded by Eric Adams on January 1 – had promised that the party would take place but with only 15,000 people in Times Square, instead of 60,000, all masked and vaccinated.
Like a couple of African-Americans who came especially from Memphis (Tennessee): “To see the release of the ball is our dream and we were vaccinated for that”, admits to AFPTV Chroni Spokes.
“At first glance, we did not want to be vaccinated but when we read the rules of the health authorities, we did it just to come here,” admits the young woman.
Faced with the surge in Omicron variant contaminations in recent weeks and the fear of reliving the nightmare of 2020 when New York was the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic, the city and state of New York are betting everything on vaccination and testing.
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul reported on Friday that over the past 24 hours more than 76,500 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, with nearly 340,000 tests performed, a new state record of 20 million. inhabitants.
Nearly 8,000 patients are hospitalized there.
Revelers began to congregate mid-afternoon in this iconic Times Square where the New Year’s Eve has been celebrated since the turn of the 20th century. Thousands of people each year wait for the countdown just before midnight and the release of the ball and confetti that marks the start of the new year.
Times Square, in midtown Manhattan, at the intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, is illuminated day and night by theater signs, music halls, neon lights and giant advertising screens, and has given New York its reputation as a “city that never sleeps ”. But the cultural and economic capital of the United States has not regained its legendary effervescence before the health crisis.