Big Celebration in Times Square as America Rings in 2024 with Thousands of Attendees, Despite Weather Concerns.

New Yorkers are celebrating the new year surrounded by one million individuals who were undeterred by the predicted rain as they gathered in Times Square to witness the famous ball drop.

Festivities were well and truly underway on Tuesday hours ahead of the midnight fireworks extravaganza.

The iconic New Year’s Eve ball will make its final descent tonight, marking the end of an era, before finding its place in a museum within the newly renovated One Times Square.

As the clock strikes midnight, a spectacular 3,000 pounds of confetti will shower down on the crowd, adorned with messages of optimism, affection, well-being, and harmony for the upcoming year.

Additional security measures were put in place across the city to reassure tourists and locals that it was safe to attend celebrations. 

Specialized units are manning rooftops and hotels while bomb-sniffing dogs roam around and helicopter and drone teams monitor from the skies. 

Designated pick-pocketing teams are also patrolling the area around Times Square, doubly helping with crowd control.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said New Yorkers can rest easy knowing there are no specific threats or concerns relating to this evening’s event, although the department has been operating in a ‘heightened threat environment’ since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, 2023.

As the crowd gathers at Times Square, watchers-on are warned they cannot pack their umbrellas despite rain in the forecast.

AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Duff said crowds should expect to be drenched if they are out in the elements.

‘The rain will be heavy at times, and people standing in Times Square will get soaked during the evening.’ 

People from around the world traveled to party together in the iconic street-venue, waiting patiently in drizzle as they prepared for a long night of entertainment on their feet.

Revelers were seen crowded among the barricades donning their New Year’s best including tall hats and waterproof ponchos.

ABC’s ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ lineup features live performances from Rita Ora, the Jonas Brothers, Megan Moroney, Mark Ambor, TLC, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Carrie Underwood.

Ellis-Bexter was criticized for a ‘breathless’ performance. The Murder on the Dancefloor hitmaker enjoyed renewed popularity this year after the song featured in an infamous scene at the end of Saltburn, starring Barry Keoghan.

But before the clock strikes 12, New York will celebrate its 400th birthday.

The Times Square tradition with the ball drop began in 1907, and is a must-do bucket list item for people all around the world, who fly in in droves for the spectacle. 

The event will attract about a million people to ring in 2025, with more than a billion watching on at home. 

The ball drop marks the end of 2024; a year of highs and lows around the world.

2024 saw the Paris Olympics unite the world in July and August.

Athletes swam in the Seine, raced in the shadows of the Eiffel Tower, and rode horses across the manicured lawns outside the Palace of Versailles.

Taylor Swift brought the curtain down on her Eras tour this year, pygmy hippo Moo Deng went viral, and two atronauts were sent to space on Boeing’s Starliner – where they remain due to technical problems.

It was a global year of elections, with countless millions going to the polls across more than 60 countries.

Vladimir Putin prevailed in a Russian ballot widely dismissed as a sham, while a student uprising in Bangladesh toppled the reigning prime minister.

However, no vote was as closely watched as the November 5 contest that will soon see Donald Trump back in the White House.

Around the world, nations have already had their fireworks displays and celebrated the new year.

More than one million people packed the area around Sydney Harbour to watch around nine tonnes of fireworks be blasted from the famed Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Celebrations were more muted in South Korea after the country was rocked in recent days by political turmoil and the Jeju Air plane tragedy, with a moment of silence held for the 179 victims.

With Seoul’s famous Lotte Tower countdown called off and parties cancelled, the new year milestone was marked by somber crowds who watched as the traditional Bosingak bell was rung, without the performances that usually accompany it.

In Japan, crowds gathered at Tokyo’s Tokudai-ji to offer their prayers for the new year and take part in the yearly bell-tolling to mark the start of the new year.

The first place to ring in the new year was Christmas Island, officially known as Kiritimati, which is home to more than 7,000 people and is the farthest forward timezone in the world.

The island, which is part of the small nation of Kiribati, was followed by Tonga, Somoa and New Zealand’s Chatham Islands soon after.

Chinese state media covered an exchange of New Year’s greetings between leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a reminder of growing closeness between the leaders who face tensions with the West.

Xi told Putin their countries will ‘always move forward hand in hand,’ the official Xinhua News Agency said.

China celebrated with an incredible drone show featuring a dragon twisting and turning through the night sky. 

In India, thousands of revelers in the financial hub of Mumbai flocked to the city’s bustling promenade facing the Arabian Sea. In Sri Lanka, people gathered at Buddhist temples to light oil lamps and incense sticks and pray.

In Dubai, thousands are were attending a fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper. And in Nairobi, Kenya, scattered fireworks were heard as midnight approached.