New York City welcomes 2022 with ball drop in Times Square

NEW YORK — New York City welcomed the new year — and bid good riddance to 2021 — as confetti and cheers spread across Times Square as a New Year’s Eve tradition returned to a city beleaguered by a global pandemic.

The new year marched across the globe, time zone by time zone, and thousands of New Year’s revelers stood shoulder to shoulder in a slight chill to witness a 6-ton ball, encrusted with nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals, descend above a crowd of about 15,000 in-person spectators — far fewer than the many tens of thousands of revelers who usually descend on the world-famous square to bask in the lights and hoopla of the nation’s marquee New Year’s Eve event.

It did so as an uneasy nation tried to muster optimism that the worst days of the pandemic are now behind it — even as public health officials cautioned Friday against unbridled celebrations amid surging COVID-19 infections from the omicron variant.

Last year’s ball drop was closed to the public because of the pandemic.

Though the crowds were smaller, the throngs nevertheless stretched for blocks to soak in the celebration, with many traveling from afar to take part. Confetti lit up by electronic billboards swirled in a light wind on a mild winter night in New York City.

Mary Gonzalez stood a few feet behind a crowd, wanting to keep her distance from anyone unwittingly carrying the virus.

“I’m happy that 2021 is over because it caused a lot of problems for everybody,” said Gonzalez, who was visiting from Mexico City and wanted to take in an American tradition. “We hope that 2022 is much better than this year.”

The annual ball drop took place as the clock ticked into midnight and ushered in the new year, an occasion usually commemorated with the uncorking of Champagne, clinking of pints, joyous embraces and renewed hope for better times ahead.

Times Square is often referred to as the crossroads of the world, and city officials insisted on holding the marquee New Year’s Eve event to demonstrate the city’s resiliency even amid a resurgence of the coronavirus.

But 2022 begins just as the year prior began — with the pandemic clouding an already uncertain future.

Doubts swirled about whether the city would have to cancel this year’s bash, as the city posted record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the days leading to it, even as some cities like Atlanta had decided to cancel their own celebrations.

COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have soared to their highest levels on record at over 265,000 per day on average. New York City reported a record number of new, confirmed cases — nearly 44,000 — on Wednesday and a similar number Thursday, according to New York state figures.

Officials required those attending the spectacle would have to wear masks and show proof of vaccination. Organizers had initially hoped that more than 50,000 revelers would be able to join in, but plans were dramatically scaled back because of widespread infections.

Rap artist and actor LL Cool J was supposed to be among the performers taking the stage in Times Square on Friday night, but announced he would pull out of the event because he had tested positive for COVID-19.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio, who relinquished oversight of the nation’s most populous city at the stroke of midnight, said the festivities at Times Square would “show the world that New York City is fighting our way through this.”

New York City’s incoming mayor, Eric Adams, is scheduled to take his oath in Times Square soon after the ball drop. He made a brief appearance earlier on the main stage to affirm the city’s resiliency.

“It’s just great when New York shows the entire country of how we come back,” he said. “We showed the entire globe what we’re made of. We’re unbelievable. This is an unbelievable city and, trust me, we’re ready for a major comeback because this is New York.”

That hopeful sentiment was shared by ordinary people.

“I look back and I see it as a sort of a stressful year, but it wasn’t a terrible year,” said Lynn Cafarchio, who braved the crowds to attend the festivities with her husband Pete.

A New York City tour guide, she was unemployed for a spell as the economy was shuttered and tourism tanked.

“We’re standing here glad that 2021 will soon be over,” she said, “but really positive about next year.”

Even if the crowds were considerably smaller, people gathered across block after block to witness the ball drop.

Nursing student Ashley Ochoa and her boyfriend, Jose Avelar, traveled from the central valley of California specifically to be at Times Square.

“COVID did hold a lot of stuff back for me,” Ochoa said, “but I mean, I’m here today, so that’s what I’m thankful for.”

Serbia

Boisterous New Year’s Eve celebrations kicked off Friday in the Serbian capital of Belgrade where, unlike elsewhere in Europe, mass gatherings were allowed despite fears of the fast-spreading omicron variant.

Large crowds gathered in the city for outdoor concerts, fireworks and a light show at a newly-constructed Dubai-style glass tower that has become a trademark project by Serbia’s right-wing populist government.

With its numerous nightclubs and bars and relatively low prices, Belgrade has become a major attraction for mostly young partygoers coming in from neighboring Balkan states. Serbia’s state RTS television reported that about 100,000 visitors have flocked to Belgrade for the holidays, filling up the city’s hotels and rented apartments. Restaurants and bars have been packed.

Belgrade deputy mayor Goran Vesic said he’s proud of the thousands out on the streets for this New Year’s Eve, saying the Serbian capital “tonight is the center of Europe.”

Serbian officials have ignored warnings by medical experts, who say that mass festivities should be scrapped as long as omicron is racing through the continent. Most European nations have imposed restrictions and banned New Year’s celebrations to try to contain the virus that has fueled record numbers of new infections.

Florida

There are no plans for the neon Big Orange to rise up the side of the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami this year, and a festival with food trucks and performers in a northeast Florida beach town has been canceled. But Key West’s maroon-heeled shoe will descend from a Duval Street bar.

Welcome to New Year’s Eve 2021, where some Florida celebrations are proceeding as planned, while others have been adjusted to fit the rapidly changing COVID-19 environment.

In Miami, city officials said the annual countdown had been canceled and instead “a digitized laser Big Orange will be created with the traditional countdown clock.” Steve Carpenter, the man behind the “Big Orange,” told WPLG that he and his staff had tested positive for the coronavirus after Christmas.

Last year’s Big Orange countdown also was canceled because of coronavirus.

In St. Augustine Beach, a massive fireworks show was still planned, but an accompanying festival with food trucks and performers was canceled because of the recent COVID-19 surge, as the highly contagious omicron variant quickly overtakes the delta variant in the U.S.

In Key West, the well-known drag performer known as Sushi will drop from above a Duval Street bar in a giant maroon, high-heeled shoe, continuing a two-decade tradition in the continental United States’ southernmost town.

“We hope people stay outside, stay in groups of people they know are vaccinated and stay away from people who are unvaccinated,” Key West Mayor Teri Johnston told flkeysnews.com.

Other Key West celebrations include a conch shell drop and a “pirate wench” drop.

Nashville

The coronavirus pandemic isn’t stopping Nashville from hosting its annual New Year’s Eve bash, but it has wrought some last minute changes to the concert lineup.

The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, which is organizing the New Year’s Eve show airing live on CBS and Paramount+, said in a statement that Sam Hunt, the Zac Brown Band and Elle King will not be performing Friday night.

“Despite taking precautions, I’ve tested positive for COVID-19,” Zac Brown wrote on Twitter. “While we were very excited to join the incredible line up … our #1 priority is the safety and well-being of our fans, band, crew and venue staff.”

Neither Hunt nor King immediately released a statement explaining their absences.

The celebration features performances at a dozen downtown Nashville locations. Brown, Hunt and King had been scheduled to perform on the main stage at Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. The band Lady A, which had been scheduled to play a different stage, will join Dierks Bentley as the show’s headlining acts.

France

Sorrow for the dead and dying, fear of more infections to come and hopes for an end to the coronavirus pandemic were — again — the bittersweet cocktail with which the world said good riddance to 2021 and ushered in 2022.

New Year’s Eve, which used to be celebrated globally with a free-spirited wildness, felt instead like a case of deja vu, with the fast-spreading omicron variant again filing hospitals.

At the La Timone hospital in the southern French city of Marseille, Dr. Fouad Bouzana could only sigh Friday when asked what 2022 might bring.

“Big question,” he said. “It’s starting to become exhausting, because the waves come one after another.”

The mostly muted New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world ushered in the fourth calendar year framed by the global pandemic. More than 285 million people have been infected by the coronavirus worldwide since late 2019 and more than 5 million have died.

Dubai

Partyers in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, descended on luxury hotels outside Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, during a fireworks and laser light show.

“If you don’t celebrate, life will pass you by,” said Lujain Orfi, a 26-year-old tourist from the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Large crowds gathered in the Serbian capital of Belgrade for outdoor concerts, fireworks and a light show where, unlike elsewhere in Europe, mass gatherings were allowed.

Japan

Masked revelers packed temples and shrines, dined and drank in downtown Tokyo and jam-packed shopping areas.

“I hope the holidays will be blessed for us all,” said Naoki Matsuzawa, a writer who lives in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo. He plans to spend the next few days volunteering to cook and deliver New Year’s food to the elderly.