Extreme cold, tight security as New York ushers in 2018

NEW YORK — Brutal weather may have iced plans for scores of events in the Northeast United States from New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day, but not in New York City, where people started gathering in Times Square up to nine hours before the famous ball drop.

“Hundreds of thousands have withstood very cold weather over the years for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we expect this year to be no different,” said Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance which puts on the event.

The coldest New Year’s Eve in Times Square came in 1917, when it was 1 degree at midnight. This year, the forecast is for 11 degrees with a wind chill around zero, which would tie for second with 1962.

City and state health officials advised people to cover all exposed skin, and wear a hat, scarf and gloves. Drinking alcohol was discouraged because it causes the body to lose heat faster.

In other areas gripped by the cold, some events are being canceled or reconsidered. The annual Lobster Dip at Old Orchard Beach in Maine has been rescheduled for the first time in 30 years.

Despite the extreme cold wether, police promised a bigger security detail than ever before in Times Square for New Year’s Eve celebration, which will cap off a year that saw a number of deadly attacks on innocent crowds, including a vehicle rampage at the very spot where revelers will ring in 2018.

In addition to its usual army of snipers, bag-inspecting officers and metal detectors, the department this year is relying on help from a growing corps of “vapor wake” dogs, which are trained to sniff out trace amounts of explosive particles that trail behind someone carrying a bomb.

All 125 parking garages in the vicinity of Times Square were emptied in advance of the celebration and sealed off, so no one has a chance to sneak in a car bomb, police said.

Detectives were assigned to all of the dozens of high-rise hotels in the area, with the aim of preventing the type of attack that happened in Las Vegas in October. Police wouldn’t discuss whether guests at area hotels would be screened in advance of the celebration, but Police Commissioner James O’Neill said officers already are working with hotel security.

“This is going to be one of the most well-policed, bestprotected events at one of the safest venues in the entire world,” O’Neill said.