New Year's in Times Square is endurance contest
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| A New York City police officer uses a metal detector to search a person entering barricaded pens in Times Square on New Year's Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, in New York. |
NEW YORK (AP)
-- Crowds jammed New York's Times Square on Tuesday to ring in 2014,
braving bone-chilling cold and ultra-tight security for the chance to
see Miley Cyrus, a final countdown from a U.S. Supreme Court justice and
the drop of the shimmering crystal ball.
The
sea of horn-tooting, hat-wearing humanity that filled the Crossroads of
the World was part celebration, part endurance sport because post-9/11
security measures force spectators into pens at least 12 hours in
advance, with no food, no warmth and no place to go to the bathroom.
"We've
got adult diapers. We're wearing them right now," said 14-year-old
Amber Woods, who came with friends from the New York City's suburbs to
experience the event for the first time. They entered their corral at 10
a.m. For nourishment, they brought lollipops and popcorn. For the cold,
they did a lot of jumping in place.
"Every
time I say, it's the last. But then I come back," said Yasmina Merrir, a
42-year-old Washington, D.C., resident attending her fourth Times
Square ball drop. In 2009, the cold was so bad, she got hypothermia. Her
legs swelled up like balloons.
She was also
fasting and not drinking anything to deal with the lack of restrooms. As
for the cold, she recommends vigorous dancing for as long as you can
stand on your feet.
"At a point," she said, "your brain is not working anymore."
New
York's midnight celebration came as millions welcomed the new year in
cities around the world, including jubilant events in London, where the
fireworks came packed with edible confetti, and Dubai, which attempted
to stage the world's largest fireworks display.
Brianna
Becerril, a 21-year-old singer and songwriter from Chino, Calif.,
persuaded her grandparents to join her at Times Square. As evening fell,
they huddled together for warmth under big, furry hats, dined on cold
chicken nuggets and drank nothing so they wouldn't have to leave to find
a toilet.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience!" Becerril said.
"Once
in a lifetime for me, for sure. I mean, if I even survive. I can't wait
to get out of here," said her smiling grandfather, Jerry Bender. But,
he said, he was enjoying getting to know their neighbors in the pen,
many of whom hailed from distant countries.
Even
when she lived in Algeria in North Africa, Merrir said, she knew that
Times Square was the place the world celebrated best on New Year's Eve.
"It's Times Square! It's the ball!" she said. "The fireworks may be better in Dubai, or in London, but this is extra special."
On
the other side of the Atlantic, Britain welcomed 2014 with a mixture of
futuristic fireworks and torch-lit tradition. For those in London, the
event offered the opportunity to taste the fireworks.
The
city's mayor - in conjunction with telecommunications company Vodafone -
said this year's explosive display came packed with peach-flavored
snow, edible banana confetti and orange-scented bubbles. The evening
also included scratch-and-sniff programs, LED wristbands and
fruit-flavored sweets.
In Dubai, a Persian
Gulf city known for glitz, glamour and over-the-top achievements like
the world's tallest skyscraper, officials sought to break another record
by creating the largest fireworks show.
The
Dubai skyline was a canvas for a dazzling 30-minute show. The display
capped off with six minutes of fireworks that engulfed the city's
man-made, palm-shaped island, with its fronds and trunk shimmering in
thousands of lights.
Organizers had promised
that the fireworks would form a flying falcon, a sunrise and the United
Arab Emirates flag. It was not immediately clear if the promised designs
or world record had been achieved.
The effort
attempted to surpass the current world record held by another Gulf Arab
state in just the first 60 seconds. Kuwait has held the record since
last year, when it fired more than 77,000 fireworks in a display lasting
more than an hour.
Guinness World Record
officials were on hand to measure the scale of Dubai's event, which
needed to be longer than five minutes to qualify.
More
than 260 people were injured by firecracker blasts and celebratory
gunfire in the Philippines, a nation marking the end of a year of tragic
disasters, including a Nov. 8 typhoon that left more than 6,100 dead
and nearly 1,800 missing.
"Many here are
welcoming the new year after losing their mothers, fathers, siblings and
children so you can imagine how it feels," said village chief Maria
Rosario Bactol of Anibong community in Tacloban, the city worst hit by
Typhoon Haiyan. "I tell them to face the reality, to move on and stand
up, but I know it will never be easy."
Back in
New York, outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who hobnobbed with
celebrities during past Times Square celebrations, was sitting out this
year's festivities to spend time with family and friends. Mayor-elect
Bill de Blasio was to be sworn in at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday at his
Brooklyn home.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia
Sotomayor, a New York City native, will lead the final 60-second
countdown and push the ceremonial button to drop the ball.
