Yes, the Times Square ball will drop this New Year’s. But you need an invitation. - The New York Times

Every December, the eyes of the world are drawn to New York City, where a glittering crystal ball in Midtown Manhattan marks a communal chance for a new beginning. But this past spring, when the pandemic ravaged New York City, photos of an eerily vacant Times Square became a grim meme, the deserted plaza an enduring image of the crisis.

And this New Year’s Eve, for the first time in decades, Times Square will be closed to the public. Only production workers and dozens of selected frontline workers and their families will be permitted near the stage.

On the guest list are a pediatrician at Elmhurst Hospital, a public hospital that was overwhelmed by the pandemic; a pizza delivery driver who became ill with the coronavirus; and Ronald Colbert, a Staten Island Ferry operator who will be attending his 40th Times Square ball drop.

“I am just so honored and happy,” said Mr. Colbert, 66, who worked through the pandemic.

The outdoor concert will be staged according to state and industry guidelines for safe media productions. This year’s musical guests include Gloria Gaynor singing “I Will Survive,” a disco classic resurfaced as a pandemic anthem.

The TV networks will project the image of a Times Square transformed by the pandemic, one without the throngs of revelers in glittering gear. The sweeping shots showing a blocks-long street party will be axed. Close-ups won’t show smiles, said Jeff Straus, the president of Countdown Entertainment, which co-produces the Times Square event, because faces will be covered.

“We want to show a physically distanced Times Square,” Mr. Straus said. “We want to show a Times Square that is wearing masks.”

Still, both Mr. Straus and Tim Tompkins, the president of the Times Square Alliance, said it was important to them that an audience of some kind be present if circumstances allowed.

“So much of the energy comes from the hordes of people,” said Mr. Tompkins, who has been involved with the ball drop since 2002. “And so there will definitely be a different energy in Times Square.”

“We want to show a city with a heartbeat,” said Mr. Straus. “And a city that’s alive.”

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Yes, the Times Square ball will drop this New Year’s. But you need an invitation. - The New York Times
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