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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Times Square readied for New Year's Eve gala

Organizers are busy preparing for the New Year's Eve bash in Times Square with even tighter security, official sources said Monday.


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Organizers are busy preparing for the New Year's Eve bash in Times Square with even tighter security, official sources said Monday.


People planning to watch the ball drop in person, believed to be hundreds of thousands, are not allowed to bring backpacks or alcohol, and are subject to police search. The municipal authorities have also applied to the Federal Aviation Administration for flight restrictions over Manhattan, they said.

Even though the nation's terror alert has been raised to orange for the holidays, officials appear confident New Year's celebrations will go smoothly.

"Last year we went into New Year's with a heightened state of alert, just like this year," said Tim Tompkins of the Times SquareBusiness Improvement District, "and the only difference between then and now is that if anything, the New York Police Department and the state and the feds have a greater intelligence capacity now."

The theme for this year's Times Square New Year's celebration is "Hope for Unity, Peace in the World."

Shoshana Johnson, an American soldier who spent 22 days as a prisoner of war in Iraq, will push the honorary button to drop theball and ring in the New Year, organizers said.


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