Tight security planned for New Year's Eve

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- New Year's Eve brings one of the biggest celebrations nights in the United States -- and one of the biggest security problems -- as thousands gather in locations around the country to mark the start of the new year.

Many officials have urged Americans not to let their New Year's Eve plans be influenced by the threat of terrorism. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, speaking Tuesday on CBS' "The Early Show," said, "I think the level of security this time around within the United States is absolutely unprecedented.''

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a Tuesday news conference that he will be in Times Square for New Year's Eve. He said other New Yorkers should "leave the worrying to the professionals" and not hesitate to join him.

New York and many other cities are staging massive security efforts to prevent New Year's Eve attacks. Times Square will be closed to traffic beginning at 4 p.m., and Times Square revelers will have to pass through metal detectors and allow their bags to be searched. Thousands of uniformed and undercover officers will be on patrol and the airspace over Manhattan will be closed to private air traffic.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd told United Press International they have "ramped up security across the board." Boyd said his agency will be providing Black Hawk helicopters to New York, Washington, Las Vegas and other cities and will also assist with other security.

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, however, told a local television station that he would not go to New York's Times Square "for anything."

Shays said it is irresponsible for federal officials to lead people to believe they don't need to take precautions like avoiding large New York City crowds.

Many U.S. cities are planning massive security.

Las Vegas, which expects 300,000 celebrants, has banned private flights over its Strip and will be guarded from the air by armed military helicopters. The city will also be protected by sharpshooters on hotel and casino roofs. Central streets will be blocked with concrete barricades.

Seattle, which canceled its Space Needle New Year's celebration in 1999 due to the threat of terrorism, is expecting 20,000 people at the event this year, which will boast stepped-up security.

Pasadena, Calif., the site of the New Year's Day Rose Bowl football game, has limited flights over the stadium. All stadium employees and TV camera crews will be required to wear photo IDs. Rose Parade spectators will be monitored with video surveillance cameras.

The Sugar Bowl, played in the Super Dome in New Orleans, will also be more highly guarded than in previous years. A fence will be in place around the Super Dome, where the game is to be played, and the dome's parking garages will be closed. Some streets will also be closed.

The New Year came to Asia without attacks despite concerns about suspected terrorists at large in Indonesia and high alerts in the Philippines and Thailand.

Cities across Europe planned extra security for New Year's events. A terror alert was issued in Germany after a tip from U.S. officials indicated that a terror attack might be planned at a military hospital in Hamburg or at U.S. military bases in Germany. There is no indication that the threat applies to German New Year's Eve celebrations in Hamburg or in Berlin, where 800,000 people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate.