NEW YORK, January 1 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of merrymakers converged on Times Square on Saturday evening to witness the glittering New Year's Eve ball make its midnight descent, a century-old New York tradition unfolding this year under an unprecedented umbrella of security.
As many as 2 million people, surrounded by a ring of 40-ton sand trucks and some 7,000 police, gathered in or around the "Crossroads of the World" to watch the kaleidoscopic sphere complete its minute-long drop, marking the beginning of 2017.
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Gloria Estefan performs during a concert in Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York, U.S. December 31, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith[/caption]
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A sea of commemorative New Year's Eve top hats is seen as revelers watch screens in Times Square as they take part in New Year's Eve festivities in New York, December 31, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich[/caption]
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Revelers gather in Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York, U.S. December 31, 2016. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith[/caption]
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A reveler in Times Square in preparation for the New Year's celebration in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 31, 2016. REUTERS/Stephen Yang[/caption]
The veritable sea of humanity, sectioned off in temporary corrals set up to better control the crowd, filled the V-shaped plaza and fanned out for a dozen city blocks north of the square. For winter in New York, temperatures were relatively comfortable at about 40F (5C).
Despite the heavy police presence, or perhaps because of it, throngs of people, many from overseas, arrived early to be dazzled by the flashing signage and entertained by live musical performances by Mariah Carey, Thomas Rhett and Gloria Estefan.
Nishant Bhardwaj, 35, of Jersey City, New Jersey, said this was the year for him to come and see the ball drop in person.
"I've seen it on television show many times, I finally had to come see it with my own eyes," he said, blowing his hands for warmth as he approached a security checkpoint.
Even though city and federal officials say they are not aware of any credible threats, a protective perimeter of 65 hulking sanitation trucks filled with sand, as well as about 100 other smaller vehicles, encircled the Times Square area.
Placed in strategic positions, the "blockers" are intended to prevent a repetition of the truck attacks in Berlin and Nice earlier this year, officials said.
At 11:59 p.m. (0459 GMT), the ball, formed by nearly 2,700 crystal triangles and lit by 32,000 lights, will begin to slide down a pole that sits atop a building at the head of the plaza. When it completes its descent at midnight, a giant "2017" sign will illuminate and a shower of fireworks will light up the sky.
CIRCLE OF TRUCKS
It is not the first time that New York has set up a perimeter of heavy trucks at large gatherings. The same strategy helped protect crowds at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November, after Islamic State militants encouraged followers to target the event, which drew about 3.5 million people.
At times since Donald Trump's election in November, blocker trucks have been positioned near Trump Tower, his Fifth Avenue headquarters and residence, a short distance from Times Square. The president-elect is spending the holidays in Florida.
For New Year's Eve, New York also deployed heavily armed police teams, snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs and helicopters. Coast Guard and police vessels patrolled waterways around Manhattan.
John O'Leary, 57, his wife, Claire, 51, and their two children were passing through Times Square on Saturday afternoon during a visit from their native England.
"It's just amazing," O'Leary said. "I just can't believe how they can manage all this, in terms of security."
U.S. defense and security agencies said they believed the threat of militant attacks inside the United States was low during the New Year's holiday, though the possibility of an attack, no matter how remote, was always present, they said.
Likewise, New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a briefing this week that there were "no direct concerns" related to this year's festivities in Times Square.
Even so, he said, "we are going to have one of the most-policed, best-protected events and one of the safest venues in the entire world given all the assets we deploy here."
