City to Host Alcohol-Free New Year Fetes

Many people associate New Year’s Eve with the popping of champagne corks and the free flow of spirits, but Los Angeles city leaders are trying to break that tradition at millennium parties scheduled at Van Nuys Airport and four other locations.

The city Cultural Affairs Department said Wednesday that five parties it will host Dec. 31 throughout the city for 500,000 residents will be alcohol-free, modeled after a successful annual event in Boston.

“We want these events to be alcohol-free primarily for safety reasons,” said Catherine Rice, who is organizing the five bashes, which will cost a total of more than $1.1 million.

“It [alcohol] is a tradition in some cultures, but we’re saying this is a very special moment and we’re lucky to be alive to enjoy this without alcohol,” Rice said.

City officials do not want the kinds of problems that plagued last weekend’s Woodstock festival, in which hundreds of young people rioted, burning trucks and vandalizing property.

At the Los Angeles parties, security officers will check people for alcohol and weapons at gates.

The plan to ban the sale or possession of alcohol at the parties has the backing of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“Not having alcohol makes for a nice party,” said LAPD Lt. Sharyn Buck. “It would make our job a lot easier.”

Adolfo Nodal, the general manager of the Cultural Affairs Department, decided on the alcohol-free policy based on the success of the “First Night” celebrations that have become a New Year’s tradition in Boston.

Revelers can still pop the corks on bottles of apple cider at midnight, Rice said. Each party will begin at noon on Dec. 31 and run until 1 a.m.

About 100,000 revelers are expected to see in the new year at Van Nuys Airport, also used each year for the Aviation Expo.

Other city-sponsored parties will be held on Grand Avenue at California Plaza, Olvera Street, beneath the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the harbor area, and a location to be selected in the Crenshaw District.