NEW YORK | Despite COVID-19 hitting New York again, the “city that never sleeps” celebrated the New Year at the iconic Times Square in the heart of Manhattan, which was brought to life by the famous descent of the crystal ball at midnight and, this year, by the swearing-in of the new mayor, Eric Adams.
• Read also: The world celebrates a second New Year under the shadow of COVID-19
On December 31, 2020, after terrible months of the coronavirus epidemic, the colorful event, famous around the world and where music reigns was held in an almost empty square in Times Square.
This year, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio kept his promise to get back to the party, and at 11:59 p.m., he started the countdown in front of a crowd limited to 15,000, instead of the 60,000. usually found there – all masked and vaccinated.
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The Times Square ball
Like every year, it took 60 s to bring down from a 20 m pylon a geodesic sphere, illuminated, covered with crystal, measuring 3.5 m in diameter and weighing more than five tons. At midnight sharp, the Times Square ball went out to make way for a brief fireworks display to the cheers and kisses of the revelers.
According to tradition, more than 1.3 tons of confetti carrying New Year’s greetings were then thrown from the roofs of buildings bordering Times Square.
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The show delighted 12-year-old Taliyah Green and her family, who drove for 23 hours from Florida to watch the ball release: “This experience, the lights, the beautiful scenery and seeing the people like that, it’s really beautiful, ”exclaimed the teenager.
And COVID-19 has not deterred American tourists – quite the contrary.
Like a couple of African-Americans who came especially from Memphis (Tennessee): “To see the release of the ball, it is our dream, and we were vaccinated for that”, admits in front of the AFPTV Chroni Spokes.
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Convinced, they get vaccinated
“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 in the past 24 hours, more than 76,500 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, with nearly 340,000 tests performed, a new record for that state. of 20 million inhabitants.
Nearly 8,000 patients are hospitalized there.
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Mckenzie Lillard also came specially for the occasion from Denver, and with her vaccine booster, she feels less “worried”.
In addition to the context of COVID-19, Times Square was also the scene this year, just after midnight, of the transfer of power between the outgoing mayor Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams, a former African-American police officer elected on November 2 to its program to fight crime and socioeconomic inequalities in this megalopolis of about nine million inhabitants, an incredible social and cultural mosaic.
Oath on the Bible
Mr. Adams, holding up the portrait of his late mother, took an oath on the Bible, alongside his family.
The revelers had started to congregate by mid-afternoon in this iconic Manhattan square, where the New Year has been celebrated since the beginning of the 20e century.
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Times Square, at the intersection of Broadway and 42e Street, is illuminated day and night by the signs of theaters, music halls, neon lights and giant advertising screens, and this district has given New York its reputation as “the city that never sleeps”. But the cultural and economic capital of the United States has not regained its legendary effervescence before the health crisis.
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