Operation Mariah for NYE

A TEAM of producers has been assigned to famously late but always fabulous Mariah Carey to get her to New York’s Times Square in time to perform before the ball drops at midnight.

Carey is set to ring in 2017 with a live performance in Times Square as the headliner for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” on ABC.

But given the legendary diva’s renowned ability to make a dramatic late entrance, producers are leaving nothing to chance.

An NYE show insider said, “Mariah has to be on time. She is the top performer in Times Square right before the ball drop. They’ve booked her an apartment at a top Times Square hotel for hair and makeup because they fear she’d never make it from her Manhattan apartment on time. There’s a team of top producers tasked to get her there on time and shepherd her to the stage.”

The source added that Carey’s team was so unfamiliar with New York’s Times Square festivities that “when Dick Clark producers called to lock in her arrival time, Mariah’s team actually asked for clarification, ‘What time exactly does the ball drop?’ ”

One showbiz insider mused, “They should have told Mariah 11 p.m., just to be safe.”

Carey will take the Midtown Manhattan stage moments before the ball drops to mark the new year. Also on the musical lineup: pop-rock band DNCE, country star Thomas Rhett, and Gloria Estefan and the cast of her Broadway musical, “On Your Feet!”

In 2014 Carey reportedly forced the production of the Rockefeller Center Christmas treelighting ceremony to wait for several hours as she allegedly didn’t want to perform in the rain; later reports blamed her divorce proceedings with Nick Cannon. She did eventually perform, and subsequently wrote on Twitter, “Last night’s situation was beyond my control. I apologize to all that showed up, you know that I would never want to disappoint you.” Reps for Carey and Dick Clark Productions didn’t get back to us Friday night.