Mayor Eric Adams said he was “sure” pro-Palestinian protesters would try to disrupt the New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square after disrupting the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“We’re definitely going to have some kind of trial this year,” the mayor said at a news conference Tuesday.
“Everybody looks for events like this if they want to do bad things, and the police department is on top of it.”
To prevent any disruption, the NYPD deployed thousands of officers to the area — in uniform and plainclothes.
Officers will also use different technologies and strategies to monitor any potential threats.
“Various tools, whether it’s robots, drones, bomb-sniffing dogs — all those things are in play,” former deputy commissioner Richard Esposito told CBS New York.
“They’ll be on the lookout for something different from what we’ve had in the past, but they’re mostly worried [about] outgoing person [to] enjoying their night out, and they want to preserve protest and freedom of speech rather than interfering with other people’s freedom and enjoying themselves.”
Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday he was “sure” pro-Palestinian protesters would try to disrupt the New Year’s ball drop. William Farrington Thousands of revelers are expected to descend on Times Square for the annual ball drop. Christopher Sadowski
The Times Square Alliance also works directly with the NYPD, as well as private security firms and federal authorities, to keep the site safe.
“If you’re going to come and try to disrupt the event, you’re probably not going to succeed, and if you do, you’re going to get arrested,” Times Square Alliance president Tom Harris said.
“So sit at home and protest elsewhere.”
Intersection of the World will be closed from noon on New Year’s Eve, and anyone trying to enter the area will have to go through police checkpoints and security checks.
But Adams expressed concern about the NYPD’s ability to handle pro-Palestinian protesters after the city was forced to settle a lawsuit earlier this year that changed how police can respond to mass demonstrations.
The NYPD is deploying thousands of officers to the area — both in uniform and plainclothes — who will use a variety of technologies to monitor potential threats. Stephen Yang for the NY Post
The department agreed to abandon “kettling” – the crowd control tactic of herding and corralling protesters in small areas before making arrests as part of a settlement announced in September.
“The Police Department… [has] become more hesitant in the actions they would have taken in the past to keep the peace,” Hizzoner warned.
“I do not agree with the concept of change,” he continued. “I push back hard … I think it puts us in a very worrisome direction.”
The NYPD has said it has not received any credible demonstration threats at the ball drop.
Pro-Palestinian protesters thronged the streets around Rockefeller Center during its annual Christmas tree lighting event earlier this month.
In total, there have been over 500 demonstrations across the Big Apple since the war in Israel began. James Keivom for the NY Post
Waving Palestinian flags and signs calling for “an end to the genocide,” the rally gathered on Sixth Avenue alongside hordes of tourists waiting in line to see the iconic ceremony.
Unable to reach the iconic tree, crowds instead thronged the building outside the News Corp building, which houses The Post and Fox News, and which has been the target of pro-Palestinian protesters at least twice.
Last month, anti-Israel protesters disrupted the Thanksgiving Day Parade by sticking their hands down the middle of Sixth Avenue and covering themselves in fake blood.
In total, there have been more than 500 demonstrations across the Big Apple since Israel’s war against Hamas began following the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack, CBS reported.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
