And as such, the courtship has prompted those who set the stage for such celebrations to take advantage of the rare pas de deux with all manner of events and parties.
The city of Gainesville's Downtown Countdown — which returns as the only free, public celebration inside the city limits — runs from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza and will offer two crowd-pleasing bands, streamers and confetti, and the sound of free noisemakers passed out to the audience.
The outdoor bash will start at 9 with classic rock and Americana sounds from the group Couch Messiahs, followed by the R&B/funk of Fast Lane, a group led by Scott Free, a longtime area singer and guitarist known for his association and performances with the plaza's namesake — Bo Diddley — after Diddley moved to North Central Florida in 1978.
"The first group, Couch Messiahs, will do about an hour, and then Fast Lane will get going and play to about 12:30 a.m.," said David Ballard, event coordinator for the city of Gainesville.
The usual security is bolstered each New Year's Eve by an army of extra patrol officers who use police barriers to prevent overcrowding and for checkpoints to inspect vehicles, enforce a ban on alcohol and check handbags. Revelers will see bomb-sniffing dogs, heavily armed counter-terrorism teams and NYPD helicopters overhead.
What won't be as evident are the plainclothes officers assigned to blend into the crowd and other officers keeping watch from rooftops. Many officers will be wearing palm-size radiation detectors designed to give off a signal if they detect evidence of a dirty bomb, an explosive intended to spread panic by creating a radioactive cloud.
The bomb squad and another unit specializing in chemical and biological threats will sweep hotels, theaters, construction sites and parking garages. They will also patrol the sprawling Times Square subway station.
The NYPD also will rely on a new network of about 3,000 closed-circuit security cameras carpeting the roughly 1.7 square miles south of Canal Street, the subway system and parts of midtown Manhattan. In recent years, police stationed at high-tech command centers in lower Manhattan began monitoring live feeds of Times Square, the World Trade Center and other sites.
Times Square isn't the only show in town this New Year's Eve — or the only security concern. Police also will be beef up patrols in Central Park, site of a midnight run, and at fireworks displays at the Statue of Liberty.
The NYPD harbor unit will keep an eye on 33 dinner cruises on the city's waterways. Add to the list the Phish concert at Madison Square Garden.
On a smaller scale in outlying neighborhoods, police are concerned about a phenomenon seen in past years: people who ring in the new year by firing guns into the air.
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