Yagami Website

NEW YORK - Heavy security -- and a downpour of confetti -- are in place for New York's traditional mass celebration of the New Year on Times Square.

No backpacks or alcohol will be allowed in the square on Thursday, an intersection in the heart of Manhattan famous for its giant electric billboards, tourist attractions and nearby theater district.

As huge crowds watch the famous Times Square crystal ball marking the final countdown to 2010, undercover police officers, surveillance cameras, uniformed teams and radiation and biological detection equipment, will be monitoring them.

"It will be a full fledged deployment of resources," city police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "We assume here that New York is the number one terrorist target in America."

Though no specific threats have been announced, the enormous public event, which is widely broadcast live on television, comes days after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to set off an explosion on a Northwest Airlines passenger plane flying to Detroit.

Security is expected to remain discreet, allowing revelers to focus on the traditional descent of the Waterford crystal ball and the ton of confetti raining down -- possibly along with snow flurries.

The ball is a tradition dating back a century and this year the arrangement of crystals will feature a ribbon pattern in a Celtic-style knot illustrating the theme chosen by organizers: "Let there be courage."

A new iPhone application has also been unveiled for the alcohol-free party in which people can make a virtual toast by clinking glasses on their cellphone screens.

While temperatures are expected to be bitter, there'll be plenty of warmth for those joining the city's many New Year's events.

One of the most famous restaurants in New York, the opulent Tavern on the Green in Central Park, is staging its last dinner before bankruptcy on Thursday night. Meanwhile at Madison Square Garden, pop star Mariah Carey is singing the new decade in.

The good news for security is that 2009 is on course to see New York's lowest murder rate since data was collected with 461 homicides, compared to a high of 2,245 in 1990.