New Year's Eve in Times Square set for reveling without restrictions

Auld Lang Syne in Times Square is back for 2023.

No mandatory face masks. No proof of vaccination. No social distancing. No pandemic capacity caps. (Those were the rules for New Year’s 2021 into 2022).

Nor will it be like 2020 into 2021, when then-Mayor Bill de Blasio danced in a televised spectacle with his wife in a nearly deserted and largely reveler-free Times Square.

This Saturday night, Times Square is set to host a return of the city's jam-packed festivities with roots dating to 1904. No more pandemic restrictions, according to TJ Witham, a spokesman for the Times Square Alliance.

At 11:59, a geodesic sphere ball made of Waterford Crystal will begin its descent from atop One Times Square — Broadway at 43rd Street — to count down the final seconds of 2022 and ring in 2023.

Then expect a literal ton of confetti to drop, according to the Alliance.

The evening will feature performances by Chelsea Cutler, JVKE, Jax, Ava Max, J-Hope, Osmani Garcia, New Edition, Sech and Duran Duran.

The city government regularly claims the crowd size is 1 million to 2 million, but an analysis in 2018 by The Associated Press concluded it's likely just about 100,000.

It’s still a lot of people, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the public buses, subways and trains, recommends taking mass transit into Manhattan instead of driving.

To accommodate the crowds, the MTA is adding extra subway service on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, C, D, L, N, Q, R and 42nd Street Shuttle lines.

The Long Island Rail Road will operate on a weekend/holiday schedule on New Year’s Eve, but is running additional westbound trains.

“For westbound customers attending events in New York City, LIRR will operate 10 additional evening westbound trains to Penn Station,” the MTA said in a news release.

And on Sunday, there will be “extra trains for those heading home after New Year’s Eve events. Fifteen early morning extra eastbound trains will operate to Long Island from Penn Station.”

The public can access Times Square only via Sixth Avenue or Eighth Avenue. Access south of 41st Street is via 38th Street, and north of 43rd Street via 49th, 52nd and 56th streets.

For those who’d rather watch online, it’ll be streaming on TimesSquareNYC.org and telecast on TV, including on ABC, CNN and Univision.

The weather is expected to be wet and relatively warm for winter — high temperatures in the lower 50s with a 40% chance of rain showers during the day and night, and lows in the upper 40s with the chance of rain increasing to 60%. New Year's Day also brings a chance of rain — 50% — with highs in the mid 50s, according to the National Weather Service.

It’ll be warmer than in the days leading up to Christmas, when temperatures plunged to near the single digits, and a winter storm paralyzed travel across much of the United States, leading to numerous flight cancellations. It’s uncertain how long it’ll take to address the travel headaches caused by the bad weather.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.