Times Square on New Year's to Be 'Safest Place in the World'

With the nation still jittery over shooting massacres in California and Paris, New York City officials sought to assure revelers Tuesday that the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square will be the safest place in the world,heavily secured by thousands of New York Police Department officers, including a new specialised counter terrorism unit.

"Leave the worrying to the NYPD," said James O'Neill, chief of the department. "People should feel safest this New Year's Eve because we're there."

Police Commissioner William Bratton said there were no credible threats to the city ahead of the holiday. Yet officials also acknowledged that there were limits to what they could do to ensure security, especially outside the tightly controlled blocks at the heart of the celebration. In much of the city, the focus will be on fast responses to any emergency rather than preventive measures like security checkpoints.

"The ability to protect everything all the time everywhere is not possible in any venue anywhere in the world," Bratton said Tuesday at a news conference in Times Square.

About 1 million people are expected to pack the blocks around Times Square to watch the 11,875-pound Waterford crystal ball drop. Partygoers trying to get close enough to see and hear the musical acts that perform throughout the evening will be screened with hand-held metal detectors twice,once when they enter one of the 14 access points to the secure zone and once when they enter pens where they must stay lest they lose their spots.

Nearly 6,000 officers will be assigned to the festivities. Visitors will see heavily armed counterterrorism teams and bomb-sniffing dogs. Rooftop patrols and NYPD helicopters will keep an eye on the crowd, and plainclothes officers will blend in with revelers. Newly graduated officers will take part.

"On New Year's Eve, the department will be out in force," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "There will be a tremendous number of officers you will see and many you won't see."

The bomb squad and a unit specializing in chemical and biological threats will sweep hotels, theaters, construction sites and parking garages. They also will patrol the Times Square subway station, and certain exits will be blocked off. The NYPD will rely on a network of thousands of closed-circuit security cameras blanketing lower Manhattan, parts of midtown Manhattan and the subway system. About 20,000 smartphones were handed out to officers this year that will allow police to quickly transmit information on potential threats.

"New Year's Eve in New York City will be the safest place in the world to be," said Chief James Waters, head of the counterterrorism unit.

And this year, a specialized counterterrorism unit of 500 highly trained officers will be deployed to respond to any emergenc