New Year Celebration 2021: Here's How New York, LA Will Celebrate NYE

Each year millions of Americans gather in New York City, stroll around Los Angeles or dance the night away in other big cities on New Year’s Eve. Celebrations this year, however, will be far different due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 health crisis has many organizers canceling countdowns and parties in places where people are likely to crowd for New Year’s Eve events. Replacing all this in-person fun are various virtual celebrations.

New York

In Manhattan, authorities are preparing Times Square for its world-famous ball drop to ring in 2021. The public won't be allowed in Times Square to watch the ball fall this year, and it's hard to imagine a New York City New Year's Eve without the thousands of people who gather in the cold to shout it out loud when the clock strikes midnight. And while there's no substitute for actually being there, people will still be able to celebrate "at" the event virtually while online.

Anyone hoping to watch the ball drop can stream the festivities at timessquarenyc.org. The event will feature Gloria Gaynor singing “I Will Survive.” The ball drop experience also will be featured on Carson Daly’s “NBC’s New Year’s Eve 2021,” and on ABC via “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2021.”

Americans who are hoping to get a more immersive viewing experience can also download the NYE2021 app. The app uses augmented reality to bring Times Square’s ball drop at home.

To keep residents in New York City safe, NYPD will dispatch uniformed and undercover officers to watch out for possible threats of terrorism and impose coronavirus safety guidelines. Local authorities will enact street closures to prevent crowding around Times Square.

“This #NewYearsEve will be unlike any in the past due to COVID-19. Please take note of these street closures that will be in place in the days leading up to the ball drop, and know that there will be no pedestrians or spectators allowed in Times Square this year,” the NYPD wrote on Twitter.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles organizers are moving the city’s official New Year’s Eve bash online. Grand Park’s NYELA 2020 will partner with music-focused Fuse to ring in 2021. The event will begin at 11 p.m. PT (2 a.m. ET) on Dec. 31, and will feature American DJ Steve Aoki, rapper BIA and Venezuelan artist Andrekza, among others.

In 2019, more than 65,000 people attended L.A.’s New Year’s Eve event. This prompted Julia Diamond, the director of Grand Park, to cancel hosting an in-person party. Moving the event online has allowed organizers to be more creative, the director teased. One performance would take place in the park’s signature fountain.

Grand Park’s NYELA 2020 organizers hope the event will give people from across the globe the opportunity to “see L.A.’s sense of community” and provide hope for the future.

“I hope this night, New Year’s, feels like a unifying force,” she said.