Tightest security ever for year-end revels in New York

NEW YORK — Police are promising a bigger security detail than ever before in Times Square for this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration, which will mark the end of 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 the square will be emptied in advance of the celebration and sealed off, so no one has a chance to sneak in a car bomb, police said.

Police officers have already been assigned to 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, when a gunman firing from a casino hotel, killed dozens of people.

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.

The extra precautions follow two recent terrorist attacks in the city. A man detonated a bomb in the city’s subway system on Dec 11; injuring only himself. And an Islamic State-inspired attacker drove down a bicycle path on Halloween, killing eight people before he wrecked his truck and was shot by police.

Times Square itself was targeted in May by a man who drove through crowds of pedestrians for more than three blocks, killing an 18-year-old tourist. The speeding vehicle was eventually stopped by one of the squat metal barriers that have been installed around the square’s pedestrian plazas.

Those attacks were reminders that New York’s massive security apparatus can only do so much. However, officials insisted they will be able to keep people safe on New Year’s Eve.

“The fact is, they will absolutely be safe,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat.

The strength of the security force for the event has not been revealed, but some details about the operation were released at a news conference on Thursday.

Officers will have help from roughly 1,000 security cameras installed in and around Times Square.

An area roughly 22 city blocks long and three long blocks wide will be sealed off from both vehicle and pedestrian traffic with concrete blocks, sand-filled garbage trucks and other vehicles.