New York gets ready for the new year's countdown event

In the US, The New York City Police Department announced that along with local, state and federal law enforcement partners, they will also be rolling out a comprehensive overlay of police officers and other security measures to ensure the safety of the celebrators, especially around Times Square. This year, this square is expected to welcome 1.5 million people.

Streets in and around Times Square will be closed to car traffic hours before the ball drops and police cars and sand-filled sanitation trucks will be positioned to stop vehicles from driving into the crowd. Everyone showing up for the confetti-filled festivities should expect to be wanded with metal detectors before being ushered to one of 65 viewing pens set up around Times Square to prevent overcrowding.