NYPD operating in 'heightened threat environment' in advance of New Year's Eve celebration
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said Monday it continues to operate under a "heightened threat environment" ahead of the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration.
More than a million visitors are expected in Times Square on Tuesday to attend the 120th tradition of watching the ball drop on the stroke of the New Year.
This year, the NYPD’s class of more than 600 new recruits will work their first detail Tuesday night. At a press conference about security preparations on Monday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said there are no credible threats to the Times Square event at this time, but the department has been operating in a "heightened threat environment" since the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.
New York City has seen mass demonstrations against Israel, including the encampments, antisemitic rallying cries and clashes with police seen at Columbia University and New York University earlier this year.
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"We remain vigilant," Tisch told reporters. "The public can expect to see a tremendous amount of police resources deployed throughout the area and across the city. That includes members of some of our elite specialized units, including our emergency services unit, who will be strategically deployed throughout the area on rooftops. Our K-9 teams, who will patrol with bomb sniffing dogs. Our aviation unit will be in the skies scanning the event and the surrounding areas with special attention to the bridges and other landmarks. And of course, our drones will be deployed overhead to monitor the crowds in real time and watch for any suspicious or unusual activity."
Last year, the NYPD had about four drone teams inside the "bow tie" and "frozen area" around Times Square for 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 the rest of the city and monitor activity over the water as well.
A reporter at the press conference asked the NYPD if any extra security measures are being brought into Times Square in the wake of the suspected terror attack on a Christmas market in Germany last week. A psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia was reportedly arrested in connection to the Dec. 20 car-ramming at a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, that killed five people, including a nine-year-old boy, and injured over 200 others.
"Every year we formulate our plan based on incidents that are happening around the world, here in the city," Rebecca Weiner, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, said. "Christmas markets – you just flagged a terrible incident in Germany involving Christmas markets – they're a persistent, high-risk target, and so, frankly, are New Year's Eve celebrations around the world, which is why we put so much emphasis on all of the resources that are here focused on keeping this city and this event safe. So it's absolutely calibrated to what's happening overseas."
Noting precautions against vehicle ramming incidents, including NYPD trucks and blocked cars at the scene, Weiner added, "We are very confident it's going to be a safe and enjoyable evening for all."
The NYPD was also asked to address the emerging threat of the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA). Weiner said there was no specific threat related to the gang in connection to the Times Square event, but the TdA matter is "just something persistently that we deal with in the large panoply of crime issues that we are very good at handling all year."
"There's been a ton of work being done by our detective bureau, patrol bureau, our bureau over in intel and counterterrorism," she said. "This is an issue that we're dealing with not specific to New Year's Eve, Times Square. But some newly emergent threats, newly emergent crime patterns that we have, again, tried to combat very early and very deeply so that we haven't had the entrenchment of some of this gang here in the city that you've seen elsewhere across the country."
The NYPD will also utilize pickpocket teams, as well as "hotel response teams" to monitor for suspicious activity or other "anomalous" events.
Tisch said all manholes, mailboxes, vending machines and litter baskets in the "frozen zone" around Times Square will be either sealed or removed, and frozen safety lanes will be created around the event using blocker cars and concrete barriers.
"And, as always, there will be plenty of security measures that you will not see," the police commissioner said. "No one handles large-scale events like this better than the NYPD, but of course we do not do it alone. The Joint Operations Center will be fully activated with all of our city, state, and federal partners."
Amid a string of high-profile subway crimes and killings – notably, Daniel Penny’s acquittal and the arrest of an illegal immigrant who allegedly set a sleeping woman on fire – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials still urged crowds to use public transportation to get to the Times Square New Year’s Eve event. 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.