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New York Preparing for Party
Aired December 31, 2002 - 14:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we begin this hour at the crossroads of the world, Times Square in New York City. In this age of terror, officials are assuming the crossroads may be in somebody's crosshairs when hundreds of thousands of revelers pour in to welcome 2003.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa joins us now for the city's plans for a peaceful, relatively speaking, New Year's Eve -- hi, Maria.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. Well, you know, the police commissioner has said that they have done everything that they possibly could do to make tonight's celebration safe.
That means that they will have snipers on all -- on many of these rooftops. They will have low-flying planes to be watching out for and inside of these crowds. They will have undercover detectives from all sorts of the elite units. The Archangel (ph) unit, the Herculean (sic) unit, the bioterrorism task force. They will all be in place, we have been told, in this area where they're expecting half a million people to show up, starting very soon. Now, what will happen is that much of these streets by 4:00 in the afternoon, they will be closed down for traffic. The barricades will come out halfway into the streets, and these areas surrounding Times Square, with the perfect view of the ball, those will start to fill up with the revelers, but those revelers will be searched. They cannot bring any bags, no backpacks, no liquor, no bottles, nothing inside with them.
They -- once they get inside, will be in place and not able to move. So the police commissioner, again, emphasizing that they can't do everything. There are some people who have raised concerns. You're going to have an active Times Square. You're going to be having theater shows going on tonight, restaurants will be open. Those people clearly won't be getting searched, but for those who are coming inside the pen area, they can expect to be searched. No liquor at all within this area. So whoever thinks that this is going to be some kind of wild, funky party where anything goes -- they have got another thing coming. It's going to be one of the, if not the most controlled area in all of New York City. So that's what the plan is for now, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: No wild, funky party. What about the theme of the party out there, Maria?
HINOJOSA: Well, you know, Kyra, I've been talking a lot of security, so I haven't been able to show off all of my props. But you know, here is one of the things that is going to be coming out. There are some people who have complained about this being too much of a marketing thing. But this is Discover, and they have given out the pom-pons, and tonight everybody will be getting these little bells where they are going to try and break the record for the -- the world record for synchronized bell ringing -- 50,000 of these. The world record was set in Gadance (ph), Poland with 10,000 people in the year 2000.
Tonight, the idea is 50,000, break that world record, and, of course, here, trusty balloons with lots of glowing ribbons, eight miles worth of ribbons. So the party's beginning to get a feel for it. I can tell you, a lot of people walking around, blowing horns, and wearing their little hats. I'll be at home, but they'll be here.
PHILLIPS: I don't blame you. It gets a little crazy. Maria Hinojosa, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 31, 2002 - 14:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we begin this hour at the crossroads of the world, Times Square in New York City. In this age of terror, officials are assuming the crossroads may be in somebody's crosshairs when hundreds of thousands of revelers pour in to welcome 2003.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa joins us now for the city's plans for a peaceful, relatively speaking, New Year's Eve -- hi, Maria.
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. Well, you know, the police commissioner has said that they have done everything that they possibly could do to make tonight's celebration safe.
That means that they will have snipers on all -- on many of these rooftops. They will have low-flying planes to be watching out for and inside of these crowds. They will have undercover detectives from all sorts of the elite units. The Archangel (ph) unit, the Herculean (sic) unit, the bioterrorism task force. They will all be in place, we have been told, in this area where they're expecting half a million people to show up, starting very soon. Now, what will happen is that much of these streets by 4:00 in the afternoon, they will be closed down for traffic. The barricades will come out halfway into the streets, and these areas surrounding Times Square, with the perfect view of the ball, those will start to fill up with the revelers, but those revelers will be searched. They cannot bring any bags, no backpacks, no liquor, no bottles, nothing inside with them.
They -- once they get inside, will be in place and not able to move. So the police commissioner, again, emphasizing that they can't do everything. There are some people who have raised concerns. You're going to have an active Times Square. You're going to be having theater shows going on tonight, restaurants will be open. Those people clearly won't be getting searched, but for those who are coming inside the pen area, they can expect to be searched. No liquor at all within this area. So whoever thinks that this is going to be some kind of wild, funky party where anything goes -- they have got another thing coming. It's going to be one of the, if not the most controlled area in all of New York City. So that's what the plan is for now, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: No wild, funky party. What about the theme of the party out there, Maria?
HINOJOSA: Well, you know, Kyra, I've been talking a lot of security, so I haven't been able to show off all of my props. But you know, here is one of the things that is going to be coming out. There are some people who have complained about this being too much of a marketing thing. But this is Discover, and they have given out the pom-pons, and tonight everybody will be getting these little bells where they are going to try and break the record for the -- the world record for synchronized bell ringing -- 50,000 of these. The world record was set in Gadance (ph), Poland with 10,000 people in the year 2000.
Tonight, the idea is 50,000, break that world record, and, of course, here, trusty balloons with lots of glowing ribbons, eight miles worth of ribbons. So the party's beginning to get a feel for it. I can tell you, a lot of people walking around, blowing horns, and wearing their little hats. I'll be at home, but they'll be here.
PHILLIPS: I don't blame you. It gets a little crazy. Maria Hinojosa, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
