What we know
- Cities across the country are under heightened security alerts because of tensions stemming from the war in the Middle East, and authorities are trying to strike a balance between safety and celebration.
- New York Mayor Eric Adams said there are "no specific threats" to the annual celebration in midtown Manhattan today.
- Some of the major American networks, including ABC, CNN and CBS, will air live specials for revelers who can't be in Times Square to watch the ball drop in person.
Hong Kong celebrates New Year's Eve with fireworks display resumed after five years
HONG KONG — Thousands of people gathered across Hong Kong's Victoria harbor, as the city welcomed the new year with a fireworks display that was last seen in 2018.
The display lasted for about 12 minutes long, which officials say was the "biggest-ever" in history, with many hiking up to the Victoria Peak to catch a glimpse of the fireworks.
The show had been cancelled due to the antigovernment protests in 2019, and the pandemic in the subsequent years.
China celebrates New Year's Eve but Shanghai Disneyland cancels fireworks display due to air pollution
Cities across China welcomed 2024 with fireworks displays and by releasing colorful balloons.
But the Shanghai Disney Resort canceled its fireworks display, titled "Ignite the New Year," because of the “severe air pollution,” the resort said in a statement.
Visitors were entitled to compensation, such as afternoon tickets, which would allow them to enter the park to watch the regular fireworks display, the resort said yesterday on its official Weibo, Chinese equivalent to X.
As of 3 p.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) yesterday, the Air Quality Index reached 215, marked as “severe pollution,” according to the state media, citing Shanghai’s real-time air quality release.
The resort received some backlash on Chinese social media platforms, but many supported its decision, calling it “reasonable” with “adequate compensations.”
West Coast welcomes 2024 with spectacular firework displays
The iconic casinos and hotels of the Las Vegas Strip were illuminated by a lavish, 8 minute-long firework display as the western United States rung in the new year.
Tourists and residents packed along the temporarily pedestrianized Las Vegas Boulevard, some waiting for hours to claim their spot to watch the show.
Elsewhere, the usual fireworks lit up the skies from Los Angeles to Anchorage as Americans in the west of the country said goodbye to 2023.
Vehicle drives wrong way down New York street, injuries reported
Three police officers and at least one civilian have been taken to the hospital after being struck and injured by a vehicle driving the wrong way down a New York street, police said.
It was not immediately clear why the vehicle was driving the wrong way down Manhattan’s 7th Ave. at 1:34 a.m. local time, the New York Police Department told WNBC, the city’s NBC-owned station.
The vehicle also struck a food truck. All of those injured were in a stable condition with non life-threatening injuries, police said.
One million people attend Sydney Harbor NYE fireworks display
About one million people attended the New Year’s Eve celebrations at Sydney Harbor in Australia last night, a spokesperson of the City of Sydney told NBC News.
Around 250,000 went to the 49 vantage points designated by the city, where people could enjoy better views of the fireworks display, the spokesperson said via phone call, adding that the grand total was one million, equivalent to one-fifth of the city’s residents.
Australia is one of the first places that welcomed 2024, 16 hours before New York City.
Times Square revelers ring in New Year
An estimated 1 million people celebrated the New Year in New York City's Times Square overnight, and there appeared to be no major incidents, authorities said.
The New York Police Department's public information office said its initial assessment turned up no major responses. The possibility was a concern after a man allegedly attacked three officers with a machete outside a Times Square security checkpoint last year.
More than 1,000 officers were assigned to the event, and they were assisted by drones that beamed real-time video to their smartphones in 5K quality, police said.
The number of arrests in and around Times Square was not yet available, the public information office said.
Celebrants rang in 2024 with optimism by writing their wishes on small notes via the NYE Wishing Wall. Thousands if not millions of the colorful notes were then released as confetti when the ball dropped at midnight.
Where to watch the New Year’s Eve 2023 ball drop and festive performances
It’ll soon be time to hold your loved ones, chant the final countdown and ring in 2024 while watching with the iconic Times Square ball drop.
No matter where you welcome the new year — on the dance floor, under the mistletoe or on the couch — here’s where to watch the countdown festivities.
This year, NBC won’t carry national New Year’s Eve programming as the holiday falls on a Sunday, when “Sunday Night Football” airs, but other networks will air spectacles that include rock star performances and show celebrations across the country.
New Year’s Wishes: Messages of hope written on Times Square confetti set to fall at midnight
When the ball drops, thousands if not millions of written life goals will help bring purpose to 2024 when they flutter in the air on Post-it-style notes that will double as Times Square confetti.
The NYE Wishing Wall, launched one month ahead of the big night, beckoned visitors to New York City to write down their wishes for the new year. Handwritten notes included "My wish is to be a Broadway star" and "My wish is for my mom to have a blessed life."
Those dreams hit the air at midnight.
NYPD hopes drones will help it keep NYE party safe
New York police are deploying drones over Times Square amid New Year's Eve celebrations, hoping the evolving technology could help identify potential attackers and forecast crowd movement.
Assistant Police Commissioner Kaz Daughtry gave a tour of three of the drones being used tonight to monitor Times Square celebrants, saying the devices bring state-of-the-art technology, including real-time 5K monitoring, to the effort to keep New Year's Eve safe.
Officers on the ground can tune in to drone video via smartphone, Daughtry said, while the aerial robots scan the 1 million-attendee event to detect anomalies in the crowd, medical emergencies and crowd movement.
"We can look for any type of anomalies in the crowd, any suspicious people, any suspicious person," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union has long expressed concerns that drones can be used to violate privacy rights and track people, such as police critics, whose messages authorities don't necessarily want to celebrate.
The police department first used drones to help monitor New Year's Eve celebrations in 2019, after its planned deployment in 2018 was canceled by rain.
New Year’s Eve celebrations roll across Asia, but wars cast a shadow on the start of 2024
Revelers across Asia celebrated the countdown to midnight on New Year’s Eve with fireworks and brightly lit signs — offering a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the globe’s ongoing conflicts raised security concerns and led to muted or even canceled festivities.
As the clock struck midnight in Australia, more than 1 million people — a number equivalent to 1 in 5 of the city’s residents — watched a 12-minute fireworks display focused on the Sydney Harbor Bridge from the shore and from boats in the harbor.
“It’s total madness,” said German tourist Janna Thomas, who had waited in line since 7:30 a.m. to secure a prime waterfront location in the Sydney Botanic Garden.
Organizers worldwide have readied for large-scale celebrations despite the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. In New York City, where there have been near-daily protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, officials and party organizers said they were prepared to ensure the safety of tens of thousands of revelers who will flood Times Square in the heart of midtown Manhattan.
Times Square revelers will see changes at New Year's Eve celebration
Crowds making their annual pilgrimage to New York City’s Time Square tonight in hope of watching the ball drop at midnight can expect some changes as authorities aim to keep disruptions to a minimum.
“We’re expanding our zone from Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue, from 41st Street to 57th Street,” New York police Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a briefing Friday. “That gives us a buffer zone so we can move quickly if we have to like last year, and also it gives us a space between protesters not to come in here.”
There are no specific threats to this year’s event, but Maddrey noted that police are staffing more than a thousand officers for the celebration, including the usual K-9 and counterterrorism units typically on hand. Mayor Eric Adams praised the city's handling of tensions in recent weeks, particularly with regard to maintaining peaceful protests.
“We have witnessed that there’s a small number of people who are trying to embed themselves in some of the protests and bring about disruption,” Adams said. “It’s not going to be tolerated. It’s not going to be accepted.”
Security measures ramping up in Times Square ahead of New Year’s Eve
PHOTOS: Australia kicks off celebrations
A spectacular fireworks display at Sydney Harbor Bridge helped kick off New Year's Eve celebrations. Throngs of revelers also gathered in parts of China and India.
Where to watch the New Year’s Eve 2023 ball drop and festive performances
It’ll soon be time to hold your loved ones, chant the final countdown and ring in 2024 while watching with the iconic Times Square ball drop.
No matter where you welcome the new year — on the dance floor, under the mistletoe or on the couch — here’s where to watch the countdown festivities.
This year, NBC won’t carry national New Year’s Eve programming as the holiday falls on a Sunday, when “Sunday Night Football” airs, but other networks will air spectacles that include rock star performances and show celebrations across the country.
PHOTOS: Revelers getting ready to party
