Along with so many things, the pandemic has dashed many of go-to New Year’s traditions — no raging clubs, no in-person ball drop, no kissing strangers at midnight, not even the annual party that you begrudgingly went to year after year. You can still watch the ball drop. This year, the crystal ball will still drop from One Times Square, the confetti will still fall and “Auld Lang Syne” will still play — it’s just that Times Square itself won’t be crowded with people. “Many of the beloved hallmarks of the Times Square New Year’s Eve tradition will be present,” said TJ Witham, a spokesman for The Times Square Alliance, a nonprofit neighborhood organization that helps orchestrate the night’s festivities. “That said, the event will be staged for television and online audiences specifically, and public revelers will not be present in Times Square.”

Source: New York Times December 27, 2020 04:41 UTC