Cable networks are preparing for the worst amid fears that their live broadcast plans on New Year’s Eve may have to change if disorderly pro-Palestine supporters take over Times Square.
Anti-Israel protesters are threatening to derail December 31 celebrations in the Big Apple – where more than one million revelers from across the country and world are expected to be bringing in the new year.
The NYPD is pulling out all the security stops ahead of the potential violence on the streets of New York City. Protests have been occurring in the city since Hamas brutalized Israeli civilians, triggering a conflict in the Middle East on October 7.
Television networks are also gearing up for an unruly night ahead of the ball drop – and they are ‘prepared for anything and everything,’ according to sources speaking to Deadline.
The ‘Shut It Down! For Palestine’ protest, organized by anti-Israel groups, is set to start in the afternoon and disrupt the celebrations for New Year’s Eve.
ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest will be co-hosted by Rita Ora
CNN will broadcast Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen ‘s New Year’s Eve Special celebrations. Pictured: The duo taking a shot ahead of the midnight celebrations last year
It comes after the protestors, who are calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas , disrupted the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
They are starting at Columbus Circle, which is the site of CNN’s headquarters – the network that will broadcast Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen’s New Year’s Eve Special celebrations.
It will be Cooper and Cohen’s seventh year hosting the extravaganza.
Alongside CNN, hosts from other big outlets will also be broadcasting live from Times Square, where the protests are threatening to reach.
ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest will be co-hosted by Rita Ora – and performers will include LL Cool J, Megan Thee Stallion, Jelly Roll, and Sabrina Carpenter.
Celebrations in Times Square will kick off at 6pm, when the six-ton crystal ball will be lit and raised up. At 11.59pm, the ball will start its one-minute drop in front of hundreds of thousands of cheering party-goers.
CNN and ABC have been contacted for comment.
At a press conference on Friday, Mayor Eric Adams said that ‘there are no specific threats to the city,’ but ‘as we saw last year, after having no specific threats we get a threat, and we are going to be ready.’
He was referencing when three cops were attacked by a Maine man, 19, with a machete over US support for Israel on December 31, 2022.
Various anti-Israel protest groups have belligerently halted festivities in the Big Apple since October 7. The Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was interrupted by raving pro-Palestine supporters, as was the lighting of the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.
Assistant NYPD Commissioner Kaz Daughtry stated on December 29: ‘We’re going to have tow trucks strategically parked along the actual New Year’s Eve festivities, and we’re going to have drones deployed around the outer perimeter so we can monitor the protests, potential protests that are coming in real time.’
Rita Ora and Ryan Seacrest are seen rehearsing for ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ in Times Square on December 30, 2023 in New York City
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen host CNN’s New Year’s special on December 31
The Times Square Alliance has warned demonstrators they won’t be successful and will be arrested so to ‘stay home and protest someplace else’
Adams added: ‘Hundreds of thousands of people will be out here lined up, and no matter how often we see it, you never get used to it, the excitement remains over and over again.’
Times Square will be closed off from around 12 pm on New Year’s Eve and those who want to get into the area have to go through police checkpoints and security screenings.
Homeland Security and the FBI will be in Times Square, alongside state police, cops on horseback, and canine units.
A law enforcement source told Deadline that police presence ‘will be significantly greater than usual. A lot can happen, we are prepared.’
And a cable news source said, knowing that air-time on camera is the aim of many protesters: ‘We are prepared for anything and everything, especially when it comes to the safety of our team.’
This comes after the protestors, who are calling for a ceasefire as 21,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fight between Israel and Hamas, disrupted all of the city’s major celebrations and parades since the October attacks.
Protestors, dressed in black and holding shrouded dolls, perform a silent demonstration for children killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza
Street closures on New Years Even will start as early as 4am with later roads closing at 11am
Even tighter security will be in force close to the Times Square area
Assistant Chief John Hart highlighted the department’s readiness for groups of varying sizes and points of origin for the protests.
Other pro-Palestine protests in the city over the past couple months have drawn between 1,000 and 5,000 people.
‘We’re prepared for them in any number,’ Hart said. ‘We’re prepared for different groups from different places, and we will make sure this event stays safe.’
Adams, a Democrat, admitted that it was likely that protesters would attempt to cause disruption in Times Square where more than a million people were expected to gather to celebrate at midnight.
This comes days after police arrested pro-Palestinian protesters that blocked entry to New York City’s John F. Kennedy airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Travelers were forced to get out of their cars and walk to the airport with their luggage in New York after activist demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war blocked the road leading to one of the country’s biggest and busiest airports on Wednesday.
Video shows protesters joined hands to create a line blocking traffic while holding signs calling for a free Palestine and chanting ‘From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.’
Port Authority Police are seen arresting the demonstrators and loading them onto an airport bus and taking them into custody.
Thousands of police officers together with a combination of robots, drones and detection dog sare expected to patrol the Times Square area to ensure the safety of the event.