COLD LANG SYNE
TIMES SQUARE CROWD BRRR-AVES NEAR-RECORD FREEZE
THEY WERE ready to brrr-ing in the New Year.
More than 1 million tourists, revelers and outright masochists thumbed their noses at the frigid weather Sunday night and crammed into Times Square to mark the start of 2018.
With temperatures hovering in the low teens, the celebration was one of the coldest on record.
The arctic chill didn’t bother Austrian tourist Irene Losel, 55.
“This is my first time doing New Year’s Eve in Times Square and it’s really not that cold,” she said coolly.
“In Austria, it’s cold, cold. This is nothing.”
Even denizens of balmier locations were game to watch the ball drop at midnight with Jack Frost.
“I grew up watching New Year’s Eve in Times Square on TV,” said Bradley Whittaker, 22, of sunny San Diego.
“It’s a quintessential New Year’s experience. It’s the place to be!”
The mercury dropped to 9 degrees as the ball dropped, the second-coldest on record, according to the National Weather Service.
The record for the coldest New Year’s Eve was 1917, when the temperature was 1 degree just before midnight.
“I’m so happy I came here tonight,” said Karima Osman, 26, from Sacramento, Calif., right after midnight. “Even though it was freezing, the whole experience was way better than I could have imagined. It’s a once in a lifetime experience.”
The night included recognition of the #MeToo movement that took off on social media in 2017 — the movement’s founder, Tarana Burke (photo right), pressed the button that kicked off the countdown to midnight.
Before the ball drop, Mariah Carey returned after last year’s bungled performance to belt out a pair of songs — this time without any hitches.
This year’s event brought heightened security from the NYPD. Revelers filing into the Crossroads of the World had to pass through 12 checkpoints and were met by cops carrying metaldetector wands.
The NYPD also booted cars out of nearby garages, while Sanitation Department trucks and cement blockades were strategically deployed to protect spectators.
Detectives were also posted at hotels around Midtown to work with their security teams to prevent any sniper attacks. The NYPD said the total cost of security for the event was about $7.5 million. The Police Department added extra precautions after two terror attacks in the city in 2017, including a motorist who killed eight people when he drove down a bike path in lower Manhattan on Halloween and an attempted suicide bombing in the subway pedestrian passage at the Port Authority Bus Terminal just before Christmas.
Stephanie Hutchings, 23, who arrived in Times Square on Sunday morning, said she appreciated the extra measures.
“The security is great,” said Hutchings, who lives in upstate Auburn.
“We were prepared, so it only took us a minute to get through the gate. But I really appreciate the extra security. It makes you feel safe so you can just have a good time.”