deployed around the city and sniper teams are on rooftops. also using odor pursuit dogs for the first time. no credible threats against the event, but working round the clock as police are preparing to keep you safe, doing preparations of their own, testing the ball drop mechanism and 32,000 lights. the tradition is 112 years strong and organizer say that it has to go off without a hitch. >> the first year that i did this back in 1995, the ball was actually, we used to do it by rope, six people, four on rope and supervisors with a stopwatch. and even back then in 1950s, the ball got stopped halfway during a celebration. >> the ball got a makeover too. new crystals installed on thursday. and also encrusted in more than 2500 waterproof crystals, 12 feet in diameter and weighs 12,000 pounds. we have come a long way since the first new year's eve ball in 1907, it was made with iron and