Security boosted for New Year’s

PASADENA, Calif. — Security will be extra tight at this year’s New Year’s celebrations around the country, with military helicopters patrolling over the Rose Parade, Times Square and the Las Vegas Strip.

"I think the level of security this time around within the United States is absolutely unprecedented," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said on CBS’s "The Early Show."

As revelers prepare for New Year’s Eve, the nation’s terrorism alert is at its second-highest level, though officials said there were no specific threats against the holiday gatherings and urged people to go ahead with their plans.

In Las Vegas, where 300,000 revelers are expected on the Strip, officials announced that armed military helicopters will fly overhead.

"These aircraft are equipped to dismantle or disrupt any kind of ground attack, and also other aircraft that would attempt to fly into our airspace," said Bill Young, the sheriff in Las Vegas.

Sharpshooters will be posted on hotel-casino roofs, and streets will be blocked off with concrete barricades, Young said. Sightseeing helicopters will be prevented from flying over the Las Vegas Strip from 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve to 3 a.m.

In Pasadena, where thousands gather along the 5 1/2-mile Rose Parade route and attend the Rose Bowl football game on New Year’s Day, video surveillance cameras will watch the spectators lining the streets.

Flights over the Rose Bowl will be limited to police and military aircraft, and everyone working in the stadium, from hot-dog vendors to TV camera crews, will be required to wear photo IDs.

In New York City, the New Year’s Eve preparations included flight restrictions and military helicopter patrols over Times Square.

Organizers said they expect this year’s crowd to be larger than last year’s gathering of 750,000.

Manhole covers are being sealed shut in Times Square, and mailboxes, trash cans and newspaper boxes are being removed. Plainclothes officers will mingle with the crowds, and elite counterterror teams will have equipment to detect chemical, biological or radiological contamination.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city was well-protected.

"Sadly, terrorism is something that we have to live with," he said. "Leave the worrying to the professionals."

Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, however, said people ought to avoid places such as Times Square, calling it irresponsible for officials to make people think they don’t need to take precautions.

"Secretary Ridge says just do what you normally do," Shays said. "If normally you go to Times Square, I wouldn’t do what you normally do. I wouldn’t go into places when you’re packed and where if there was panic, a lot of injuries would take place."