Revelry, Reverence Will Mingle at New Year’s Fetes

When the famous crystal ball is hoisted to its perch atop One Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the traditional sounds of cheering and noisemakers will be replaced with the somber tone of ringing bells held by thousands during an interfaith religious ceremony to honor the victims of Sept. 11.

At the Strip in Las Vegas, the biggest party in the West is on. But crowds are likely to be thinner, security will be as tight as it was during the millennium bash two years ago, and the raucous “Big Bang” theme that was originally planned will give way to a more tempered celebration of nationalism, topped with fireworks, flags and massive waves of red, white and blue bunting.

Across America, celebrations promise to be different this Dec. 31, padded with overtones of reverence and splashes of patriotism as the nation moves away from the historic tragedy and attempts to embrace a new year. With cities craving a much-needed economic boost and grappling with security concerns, public officials and citizens alike are seeking a delicate balance between revelry and respect.

Some places, like Los Angeles and Orlando, Fla., won’t be holding any public parties this year, figuring the drop in tourism coupled with the overall somber mood of the nation does not a party make. Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle plan to go ahead with their usual street-side celebrations but expect fewer people to turn out for what will feel more like the Fourth of July, with lighted Uncle Sams and choruses of “America the Beautiful” dominating “Auld Lang Syne.”

“We have to be more mindful and respectful this year, because it is unlike any other,” said Robert Esposito, acting president of the Times Square Business Improvement District, which organizes New York’s annual event. “We want people to celebrate, but we cannot forget what happened. We want this to be a time of jubilation, but we must remember where we are.”

No doubt some people are itching to let loose, perhaps more so this New Year’s Eve, to forget the sadness of Sept. 11 and put the difficult year behind them. But rather than hitting the town, many have decided to host scaled-down parties, if they can be called that at all.

“We’re getting much smaller, intimate gatherings this year,” said Tanae Jamison, a manager at Sonoran Productions, a major caterer and event planner based in Phoenix. “People want to do something that night, but they want to feel right about it. It has to be appropriate, not frivolous.”

Earlier this week, Gina Farber was shopping for beverages and appetizers for the “low-key” New Year’s Eve party she and her husband, Michael, are hosting at their Dana Point home. Normally, the 40-year-old bookkeeper said her family of four would be vacationing somewhere for the holiday--they went to Aspen, Colo., last year--but decided to stay home this time.

“It will be nice,” said Farber, considering a case of red wine at Trader Joe’s in Irvine. “Just a few friends, some music, some meaningful conversation. . . . It’s the right thing to do this year.”

With more families like the Farbers cocooning for the holidays, New Year’s Eve crowds at many tourist spots won’t be the same this year.

Cities like Orlando have been struggling with the travel slump since September, and with the mood and economy the way they are, officials figured it wouldn’t make sense to offer special New Year’s packages or hold a big citywide party.

“I doubt it’d be worth it to even try this year,” said Danielle Courtenay of the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau, which estimated that hotel occupancy this month is running at just 55%.

Across the country in Anaheim, Disneyland’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration will carry on as usual until 3 a.m., but with the unusual addition of an undisclosed number of city police officers walking the park. Guards also will be searching bags at the entrances of both parks. The event, which includes fireworks at midnight, has in the past drawn crowds of nearly 80,000, but bookings so far at Anaheim hotels for the New Year’s weekend are down.

Hollywood’s year-end street party for charities is unlikely to draw more than half of the 20,000 who attended last year, organizers said. Tickets for the event, which will raise money for local youth charities, cost $80. “It’s pretty much the only thing going on around here,” said Tracy Wass, a spokeswoman for the event.

For places where New Year’s Eve is the biggest party of the year, though, preserving the celebration is a priority. Nowhere are the preparations as daunting as in New York City, where organizers have attempted to hold on to a 97-year tradition--and the more than $60 million in visitor spending that comes with it.

Officials remain extremely tight-lipped about security measures, other than to say it will be even more intense than it was for the millennium celebration, when 37,000 police officers were on duty and precautions were taken to thwart chemical and biological attacks. Security this year will even include random searches of partygoers, none of whom will be permitted to carry bags or purses into Times Square.

“We’re New York. We gotta get this right,” said Esposito of the Times Square Business Improvement District. “Everyone’s watching us, because in a lot of ways we’re setting the tone for the whole country. Maybe the whole world.”

To feed that sentiment, Esposito said, planners decided to keep much of the country’s biggest New Year’s Eve party the same as always--to offer a sense of normality to the city as well as the millions of people who watch the bash on television every year. There still will be the usual balloon drops, laser light shows and the customary shower of confetti at the stroke of midnight. But there also will be prayer services and a carefully chosen theme of “Hope for Healing.”

In a more subtle touch of reverence, the names of the police, fire, port authority and rescue units that lost members during the terrorist attacks--as well as names of the home countries that lost citizens--will be engraved on the Waterford crystal triangles that make up the New Year’s Eve ball.

The overall result, Esposito hopes, will be an upbeat celebration with a reflective, more low-key message.

Although city officials are counting on 500,000 people, or about as many as last year, some doubt that many people will want to crowd the streets of Times Square--or anywhere in Manhattan, for that matter--to party. Tourism has fallen sharply since the deadly terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center towers, and industry officials believe even locals may be reluctant to go to crowded places now.

Las Vegas never considered canceling its party either, but officials had vigorous debate over the theme, the size and whether to have fireworks at all this year. In the end, they decided to “salute America” in the massive street party that drew about 350,000 people last year.

Called “America’s Party,” the evening aims for a Fourth of July-type atmosphere along the five-mile stretch of the Strip that will become a pedestrian mall on New Year’s Eve. Rob Powers, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said a seven-minute, $500,000 fireworks display--shot from the rooftops of 15 hotels--is being billed “A Star-Spangled New Year” and will bathe the city in patriotic colors at midnight.

“It was our belief that people are going to want to celebrate, to put this year behind them and look forward,” Powers said. “Making New Year’s Eve a tribute to the nation is a perfect way to do that, because you can’t feel bad about loving our country.”

It appears to be working. About 282,000 out-of-town visitors--nearly a third of them from Southern California--are expected to fill most of Las Vegas’ 126,725 hotel rooms for New Year’s, according to hotel projections by the tourism agency. And though the occupancy rate for New Year’s Eve will be down slightly from last year, officials said it still should hit 97%--a far cry from the 50% to 60% occupancy in the first couple of weeks after the attacks.

“It’s a big, big night for us,” Powers said. “We need it.”