New Yorkers have welcomed 2022, watching the famous ball drop as the outgoing mayor Bill de Blasio danced with his wife in his final act as leader of the city.
To the strains of Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York', the crowd danced and cheered in Times Square, as the fireworks exploded and the confetti fell.
De Blasio's term ended at the stroke of midnight, and his successor Eric Adams was sworn in, holding aloft a framed photo of his mother.
His son Jordan held a family bible, and his partner Tracey was on the other side of him.
The unpopular outgoing mayor was seen waltzing with his wife Chirlane McCray wearing a face mask, in accordance with his own rule, but many in the crowd ignored his mask mandate.
The crowds gathered to watch the famous ball drop, and move forward into 2022 - despite the surge in Omicron cases, and concern from health experts.
De Blasio scaled down the event, with only a quarter of the usual attendees - but insisted it must go ahead, saying it will 'show the world that New York City is fighting our way through this.'
New York on New Year's Eve saw a record of 76,555 COVID cases.
Despite this, thousands of partygoers huddled in the square wearing typical celebration garb including funky hats, bead necklaces, and 2022 glasses.
The city has limited the number of people it lets into Times Square to witness the six-ton ball, encrusted with nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals, descend above the crowd.
Lines of traffic clogged the city's streets throughout the day in preparation for the mega-holiday event.
Public officials cautioned on Friday against uncontrolled celebrations due to the surging case numbers.
The popular 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2022' kicked off at 8pm ET on ABC, featuring performances from artists including Mariah Carey.
Officials said those attending the spectacle would have to wear masks and show proof of vaccination over caution of the widespread infections.
Rap artist and actor LL Cool J was supposed to be among the performers taking the stage in Times Square, but pulled out of the event because he had tested positive for COVID.
Performers taking the stage included headliner KT Tunstall, a duet between Ja Rule and Ashanti, a collection of songs by Journey as well as performances by artists such as Chloe and KAROL G.
COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have soared to their highest levels on record at over 265,000 per day on average.
New York City itself reported a record number of new, confirmed cases — nearly 44,000 — on Wednesday and a similar number Thursday, according to New York state figures.
Other major US cities including Boston, Las Vegas, Nashville and Philadelphia were also seen ringing in the new year with large crowds seen celebrating.
This comes after the nation smashed a global infection record on Thursday as 647,067 new cases were reported.
The New Year's celebration comes after last year's celebration had been closed to the public because of the pandemic.
'We are very excited to welcome back visitors to Times Square this New Year's Eve,' said Tom Harris, the president of the Times Square Alliance.
'Our goal is to have a safe and responsible event for the world to see.'
Officials with the NYPD are continuing to enforce public health safety for the event due to the rising number of cases in the city.
Authorities will check to ensure attendees are adhering to COVID guidelines by wearing masks as well as checking their vaccination status upon arrival.
These new security measures have been formed to protect the health of those in attendance as compared to past New Year's events.
However, officers will continue to track and monitor potential terrorist as well as other security threats if necessary.
But 2022 begins just as the year prior began — with the pandemic clouding an already uncertain future.
Doubts swirled about whether the city would have to cancel this year's bash, as the city posted record numbers of COVID cases in the days leading to it, even as some cities like Atlanta had decided to cancel their own celebrations.
According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of new cases in America are of the Omicron variant, which was first discovered last month by South African health officials.
The U.S. is now averaging 300,387 new Covid cases per day, a pandemic record and the first time the 300,000 mark has been reached in America.
New York state recorded 76,500 COVID cases on Friday, up from yesterday's record of 67,000, governor Kathy Hochul announced.
Currently there are 3,925 New Yorkers in hospital and 80 people died yesterday from Covid, the governor said.
However, the surge in cases has not stopped the celebration from continuing with the hopes of a mild year with COVID in store.
'I don't believe in shutdowns,' de Blasio told the Today show on Thursday.
'We have to fight our way through this.'
De Blasio's statement is in sharp contrast to his actions taken during the pandemic, when New York City shut down for months in 2020.
New York City's new mayor, Eric Adams, expressed hope on Thursday that 2022 would be 'a new beginning of our resiliency.'
College students and sisters Mary and Vanessa Anyakwo were guardedly optimistic, too, as they took in Times Square on an outing from their home in suburban Elmsford, New York.
'I feel a lot more hopeful than I was last year because I think we have a lot more facilities' to handle the pandemic, said Mary, 20.
Vanessa, 22, pointed to the crowds. 'By this time last year,' she said, 'I didn't think it would be like this.'
Paulo Brügger, a banker from Zurich, Switzerland, reflected on a world fed-up with having to endure wave after wave of the virus a year after 2021 dawned with hopes bottled up in vaccine vials.
His optimism was tempered by the world's new reality that the pandemic would linger into the new year.
'A lot of people are asking themselves now, 'Is this going to be like this every year — when we get into the cold season, we have a new variant, and we are back to square one?'' said Brügger, 55.
Still, he was 'extremely optimistic' about 2022, partly because of vaccines and new therapies against COVID-19 and partly, he said with a chuckle, 'because it can't be worse than the last two years.'
Despite reservations about COVID, some attendees were simply thrilled to see the New Year's Eve ball drop live in Times Square.
'Since you are a kid, you can see this kind of shows on the TV, so you're really excited because you're like, OK, I want to be there some day, and now we're living the experience,' Colombia native Maria Fernanda told CBS.
Other US cities have continued celebrations as well despite the recent surge in cases.
CHICAGO
Fireworks exploded along the Chicago River during New Year's Eve celebrations, moments after midnight on Saturday, January 1.
PHILADELPHIA
For the first time in two years, the city of Philadelphia rang in the new year with its spectacular fireworks shows.
Held on the Delaware River waterfront, the celebrations saw two firework spectaculars - one at 6pm, and one at midnight.
There will be more fireworks at 6pm on New Year's Day.
MIAMI
In Miami, crowds gathered at Bayfront Park for the traditional firework display, while Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson hosted an 'All-Star' New Year's Eve Special in Miami for NBC, which aired live.
One COVID casualty was The Big Orange, by Mr Neon.
The sculptural 30-foot wide display, 35 foot tall and weighing 2,000 pounds, needs ten transformers to help power the LED lights.
It did not rise this year after the crew in charge of installing it came down with COVID-19.
Instead, the orange rose in the form of a laser light show.
NASHVILLE
Music City ushered in the new year with a typically rocking celebration, held at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.
The show featured performances by Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, Sam Hunt, the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
COACHELLA
The town of Coachella, in the Californian desert, hosted a concert to mark New Year's Eve.
Music lovers flocked to the city, and its famed concert site, for DayOne22: a New Year's Eve Celebration.
Concert promoters AEG, who put on the annual festival at Coachella, sued event producers Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, arguing that their sale of tickets infringed AEG's right to put on their own event.
AEG didn't sue Twenty-Nine Palms directly because the tribe has sovereign immunity from such lawsuits. But in its lawsuit against the ticketing vendor of the NYE event, the plaintiffs alleged that the tribe is 'intentionally trading on the goodwill' of the Coachella music festival, causing a likelihood of 'consumer confusion and false association' with the spring event.
But a judge ruled against them, and the event continued.
The show was headlined by Lil Wayne, along with rapper Diesel (Shaquille O'Neal) and E-40.
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