NYPD: 'Extraordinary' security for Times Square

The NYPD will be ready.

More than 6,000 New York City police officers, canine units, air and water patrols, and rooftop snipers will be deployed around Times Square on Thursday to ensure that the expected one million visitors will be safe when the New Year's Eve ball drops, city officials announced on Tuesday.

While police officials said there have been no credible terror threats against the city in advance  of the celebration, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the security measures that will be in place at the Big Apple landmark are "extraordinary."

"We are the best prepared city in the country, the best prepared city to prevent terrorism and to deal with any event that could occur," de Blasio said. "There'll be obvious security measures you will see, and a number of measures you won't see. What we can assure you is that preparations are extraordinary."

City police have been on alert throughout the holiday season, deploying the first 100 officers of the department's Critical Response Command just three days after the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris left 130 people dead.

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With one million visitors expected for the New Year's Eve celebration, the department said it will be at its highest state of vigilance.

Chief of Department James O'Neill said street closures will begin at 4 a.m., when spectators are expected to begin arriving. Police will close off roads between 38th and 59th streets, and Sixth and Eighth avenues. Shortly after 9 a.m., officers will begin setting up 65 "spectator pens," with the festivities to start at 6 p.m.

"The usual elements of a highly visible police deployment will include thousands of uniformed police officers at the street level and also in the subways, in the air above and on the waterways all around New York City," O'Neill said. "There'll be hundreds of traffic agents, plus additional mobile cameras, chemical and radiation detectors. Specially trained police dogs sniffing for traces of explosives, cops on horseback, police helicopters and police boats."

"We'll have observation posts manned by ESU cops looking for suspicious activity, while cops in plain clothes keep watch in the crowd," he said. "The NYPD makes a habit of putting all those extra layers of protection behind our regular patrol component."

The New Year's Eve police presence will include 1,200 new recruits on their first assignments after graduating from the police academy on Tuesday, and members of the Critical Response Command. The 500-strong unit, which de Blasio described as "specifically chosen and trained officers who work fulltime on counter terrorism," will be in full force for the first time on Thursday.

"It is going to make a big difference," the mayor said.

If you plan to go, access to Times Square will be from Sixth or Eighth avenues only. Once the streets are closed, no one will be allowed to cross Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Anyone attending a party in Times Square should contact the business for special instructions for access.

Visitors are encouraged to use public transportation.

Here are some of the security measures and other tips you should know in advance:

• The New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square is free and open to the public.

• Crowds begin to gather in the afternoon, but the event is on a first-come basis so visitors are encouraged to arrive early.

• Public drinking of alcohol is not allowed and police will confiscate any alcohol found at the event.

• Police will conduct searches with hand-held wands at all Times Square entry points and at spectator viewing areas.

• Knapsacks and large bags will not be allowed, and all bags will be searched. Anyone refusing to have their bag searched will not be allowed to enter.

• Radiation detectors will be deployed and will be used during the event.

• All newspaper vending machines and trash cans will be removed on Broadway and 7th Avenue from 34th to 59th streets.

• Manhole covers will be sealed from 41st to 50th streets between Sixth and Eighth avenues.

Twitter: @jfitzgibbon