NYC to ring in new year with heightened security in Times Square

As tens of thousands of revelers gather in New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve, authorities are bracing for renewed protests over the use of excessive force by police, capping a year of tension over racial relations across the United States. While security is always tight in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, especially since the 9/11 attacks, extra precautions were put in place on Wednesday to prevent violence at the famed midtown Manhattan crossroads. 2014 was marked by months of protests over the deaths of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers in Missouri and New York. Two weeks ago, a gunman also killed two officers sitting in a patrol car in Brooklyn in an apparent act of retribution against law enforcement. New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said more than 80 threats against police had been made on social media sites over the past week, leading to at least 15 arrests.

Any threat against my officers will be dealt with very quickly, very effectively. We’re not going to let any of them go by the board.

New York Police Commissioner William Bratton

Bomb-sniffing dogs and counter terrorism units have joined uniformed officers posted on the streets around Times Square. More officers were stationed on rooftops and at nearby subway stations, aiming to monitor an area that comprises at least eight blocks of midtown Manhattan. Overall, thousands of police officers were working in the area, including plainclothes officers blended into the crowds of revelers. Meanwhile, Organizers of a protest dubbed “Rock in the New Year with Resistance to Police Murder” handed out signs in Times Square and urged people to form a “flash mob” at the stroke of midnight. The idea is to have revelers pull the placards from under their coats and chant “Black Lives Matter!” and “We Can’t Breathe!,” two rallying cries of protesters.

"We must be in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. It is the place to be, the crossroads of the world.

Protest organizer Travis Morales

Americas