'Unprecedented' Times Square security on New Year's Eve

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - Following the recent terror attacks in Manhattan and mass shooting in Las Vegas, the NYPD is not taking any chances this New Year's Eve. No specific or credible threats have been made to New York City, but the NYPD knows that Times Square on New Year's Eve could be a target for terrorists. That is why security will be unprecedented Sunday night.

More than a million people are expected to pack Times Square Sunday night to ring in 2018. As the world watches the crystal ball fall from the sky, a heavy police presence will be on the ground.

Starting at 11 a.m. Sunday, crosstown traffic will be shut down from 37th to 59th Streets and from 6th to 8th Avenues. At that time, police will begin to seal off the area with concrete, blocker cars, and sand trucks.

Within that area, all 125 parking garages will be closed.

Spectators will have 12 access points—each with vapor wake dogs, bag checks, and heavy weapons units. Police will screen spectators more than once, according to Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan.

The NYPD is working alongside the FBI, Secret Service, and teams with counter-sniper capabilities. Uniformed police officers will be assigned to all Times Square hotels to team up with hotel security, Monahan said.

Police will fan out across the five boroughs, too, to keep an eye on all New Year's Eve festivities.

The NYPD said it can only do so much and needs the public's help, too. The department is urging anyone to report anything suspicious to police.

New Year's Eve is also expected to be bitterly cold, so the FDNY will make sure to have enough EMTs on hand in case of problems like frostbite.