A crowd of more than one million merrymakers welcomed the New Year 2017 at New York’s Times Square in a colorful burst of crystal triangles from the ball drop.
The revelers welcomed the new year with joyful cheers, music, hugs and warm congratulations as the clock clicked start of the new day and the new year a moment past midnight.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and outgoing UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, pushed a crystal button to begin the 60-second countdown to 2017.
Celebrants starting packing all spaces around the iconic square hours in advance for the countdown, where singer Mariah Carey was among the performers to greet the new year on a relatively milder winter evening.
City officials said more than 7,000 officers were deployed to secure the city for New Year’s Eve.
The glittering crystal ball that ushered in the new year was was brighter than ever before. It dropped above the crowd at midnight, the climax of an annual rite of winter dating back to 1904.
Police took extraordinary measures to ensure security at a gathering that has come to define the New York experience for many visitors to the largest U.S. city.
As the evening went by smoothly, a festive mood prevailed all over the Square.
