New Year's Eve in Times Square is going virtual this year

When the ball drops this year it won't be over hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and tourists gathered in Times Square. Fans of the event will instead countdown from home as the time-honored New Year's Eve celebrations go digital with a focus on "human spirit", celebrating those who kept us safe during the pandemic from essential workers to first responders and doctors to scientists.

When the shimmering ball drops, marking the beginning of 2021, there won't be kissing, hugging and balloon-waving in Times Square. Celebrations are being scaled down this year due to the coronavirus. But that doesn't mean that revelers won't get to see the ball drop at midnight or take part in the ceremony. According to organizers, a virtual experience is being created to allow people celebrate wherever they are.

USA, New York City, Times Square, fireworks on New Year's Eve — Tall Art Deco building with the clock tower is the Paramount Building. It was designed by the architects Rapp & Rapp in 1927. Fireworks in Times Square on New Year's Eve are a tradition that was started in 1904 when the New York Times took up residence. ©Reza Estakhrian/Getty Images

"More than ever in these divided and fear-filled times, the world desperately needs to come together symbolically and virtually to celebrate the people and things we love and to look forward with a sense of renewal and new beginnings," Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, said.

There will be extremely limited and socially-distanced celebrations in Times Square but the purpose of those events is to complement the new and enhanced virtual, visual and digital offerings. Plans are still in development but the owner of One Times Square, where the New Year's Eve ball drops, has built a broadcast app that will connect people around the world to the New York commemorations. Producers say this year the focus will be on the first-responders and people who kept us safe during the pandemic.

“One thing that will never change is the ticking of time and the arrival of a New Year at midnight on December 31st,” said Tompkins. "Because more than ever in these divided and fear-filled times, the world desperately needs to come together symbolically and virtually to celebrate the people and things we love and to look forward with a sense of renewal and new beginnings."