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NYC to Limit Crowds for New Year’s Eve Due to Covid Spike

NYC to Limit Crowds for New Year’s Eve Due to Covid Spike

New York City is limiting crowds and adding more health and safety measures for revelers at the New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square amid a record surge of Covid-19 cases. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the celebration will still be held but only allow 15,000 people in viewing areas. The city will require proof of full vaccination and mask-wearing.

Still, the mayor declined to cancel the event altogether, citing vaccination requirements to attend, the outdoor nature of the event and the precautions taken as adequate safety measures.

The crowds in Times Square will be much smaller than the million-plus revelers who came out in past years. But the more subdued celebration will be notably more festive than last year, when Times Square was a virtual ghost town and only a few hundred people gathered to watch the ball drop to ring in 2021. The celebration was mostly confined to city officials and health-care workers.

“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,” de Blasio said in a statement on Thursday.

Covid cases have jumped more than sixfold in the city in just a month as the omicron variant spreads. The percentage of positive cases over the last seven days rose to 11.38% on Tuesday, up from less than 1% during the summer, according to city data. 

Although hospitalizations and deaths have not increased at the same pace, the city’s public hospitals said this week it would begin banning most visitors. CityMD said it would temporarily close certain locations due to staffing issues as New Yorkers wait in hours-long lines for Covid tests.

Many cultural institutions, restaurants and schools have temporarily closed due to Covid-related staffing shortages and the spike in cases. Mayor-elect Eric Adams has also decided to forgo his inauguration celebration, which was planned for the 3,000-person Kings Theater in Brooklyn. The Rockettes ended their Christmas special at Radio City Music Hall, and more than a dozen Broadway shows including “Hamilton” and “Aladdin” canceled performances. 

New York City’s annual New Year’s Eve event typically draws tourists from around the world and is televised nationwide. 

“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,” said Mayor-elect Eric Adams in a statement on Thursday.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.