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NEW YORK, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- More than 1 million revelers helped ring in 2013 in New York's Times Square, officials estimate. ABC's New Year's Eve live coverage from the Big Apple's tourist district included appearances by Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, PSY, MC Hammer, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the Rockettes.
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"American Idol" emcee Ryan Seacrest served as host of Monday evening's festivities, paying homage to his mentor and predecessor Dick Clark, who died in April at the age of 82.
Clark was the holiday program's host from 1972 to 2005. He began sharing duties with Seacrest in 2005 when he suffered a stroke.
Revelers at Monday night's festivities wore blue foam hats and waved blue balloons, distributed by sponsor Nivea.
The New York Daily News said there were no public toilets set up for the event, but that didn't seem to deter people from standing for hours waiting for the party to start.
Police said there were no major incidents during the event to report.
The 2013 ball sported 288 new Waterford crystals and confetti dumped on Times Square at midnight included bits of paper inscribed with the wishes of visitors, the Daily News said.
Meanwhile, a mini-Times Square was created north of New York City in Kingston, N.Y., where thousands of revelers gathered in the streets to watch an illuminated orb inspired by New York's ball drop at midnight.
The revelers sported vintage regalia as well as 2013 eyeglasses and party favors because the event adopted a 1913 nostalgic theme in a historical part of the Hudson Valley city.
Restaurants, bars and clubs offered food, drink and song popular during that era and a 19th century vaudeville theater presented a revue.
Even the ball that dropped had an old-time look.
"I wanted to try to stick to the theme of 1913 and go back in time, so I had an old-fashioned globe, and the moon and the sun will revolve around it as it lowers to the ground," ball designer Paul O'Connor of Bloomington, N.Y., told Mid-Hudson New Network before midnight.
In contrast to New York City, where thousands of extra patrol officers monitored and controlled the crowd, only one uniformed policeman was visible amid the merrymakers, Mid-Hudson News said.
