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An aerial rending of Times Square, imagined in the possible future with trees taking over the urban space. That speculative future is part of the sound art piece Times3. (Courtesy of Prototype opera festival)
If you throw a New Year’s party and no one shows up, is it still a party?
For the first time since it began to be broadcast on television in 1973, the dropping of the ball in New York’s Times Square will not be accompanied by a crowd of people. Because of the pandemic, ABC will broadcast a version of its annual “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” but without the usual crush of onlookers.