The annual New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City will be back to ring in 2022.
At a virtual press briefing Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the festivities will return at “full strength.”
“We are proud to announce the wonderful celebration in Times Square, the ball drop, everything, is coming back,” de Blasio said. “It’s going to be amazing.”
Last year’s 2021 celebration was primarily viewed virtually. Only a few hundred people attended in person, marking the first time since 1907 that the event did not have a large crowd of spectators, according to the New York Post.
Those who do attend this year’s celebration will need to show proof of vaccination and photo ID, or provide a negative COVID-19 test and wear a mask. Children under five also need to be in the company of a vaccinated adult.
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“Our goal is to have a safe event for our cast, our crew and for the crowds,” said Tom Harris of the Times Square Alliance. De Blasio also said at the press briefing that they “are going to have some clear, smart rules to keep everyone safe.”
“We want to have a great New Year’s Eve celebration in this city. This city has been through so much,” de Blasio said on Monday. “This has been a heroic city fighting through COVID. We are turning the corner. We’ve got a lot to celebrate. It’s going to be a big moment in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.”
However, some people are still hesitant to return. When asked by CBS New York whether he would go to watch the ball drop, Brooklyn resident Matthew McAllister replied, “I think it’s a good idea to attract people to come back. Broadway’s opened back up. But I’m not…I’m still not looking forward to doing it myself, personally.”
Others are excited about the festivities. Street merchant Mamadou Diob, who has worked in Times Square for 20 years, told ABC7 he “can’t wait” to sell 2022 souvenirs.
More details will be announced in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, the news of a full-fledged New Year’s Eve celebration signals the return to normalcy.
“Join the crowd, join the joy, join a historic moment as New York City provides further evidence to the world that we are 100 percent back,” de Blasio said.
