New Year's Eve forecast: Fog, possible protests, busy airports
New Year’s Eve celebrations in New York and on Long Island will be spared any fallout from the blizzards blanketing the middle of the country, but Long Islanders will contend all week with dense fog, South Shore flooding and a chance of protests Sunday when the ball drops in Times Square.
While light rain is expected through Saturday, the weather on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day figures to be sunny, mild and seasonal — though temperatures overnight from New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day could hover around freezing.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said this could be the busiest holiday travel season ever at its three major airports — Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark — and that traffic volume at its bridges and tunnels could hit pre-pandemic highs set in 2019, leading to delays.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that while no specific threats exist for New Year’s Eve in Times Square, he warned of potential “disruptions” like the pro-Palestinian protests that took place at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony last month in Rockefeller Center and the so-called “lone wolf” machete attack last year on two officers on New Year’s Eve.
Adding to the challenge, Adams said are new guidelines banning a police tactic known as “kettling,” as part of a recent settlement in a First Amendment lawsuit related to the NYPD's response to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
“There’s an added concern because of some of the protests you have been seeing, and there was an attempt to disrupt the tree-lighting, and we’re sure that there’s going to be some type of attempt this year to use that stage for some other concerns that people are having,” Adams said of the annual ball drop in Times Square at his weekly meeting with reporters Tuesday, adding: “It’s a real herculean task to manage that number of people without being heavy-handed, but being protective.”
The National Weather Service long-range forecast for the week is calling for sunny skies on New Year’s Eve, with daytime temperatures in the mid-40s, dropping to near-freezing overnight into New Year’s Day. Sunny skies also are expected for New Year’s Day, with a high in the low-40s.
Still, that’s good news — since the weather service is calling for rain, sometimes heavy, in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve.
Of course, mild temperatures have spared Long Island and the New York-metro area from much of the snow that hit the plains during the Christmas weekend and though remnants of that weakening storm are what will bring us all that potential rain, the weather service said we’ll also likely miss a “light wintry mix” of snow and sleet that should hit New England.
If you’re traveling this New Year’s weekend, allow plenty of extra time at bridge and tunnel crossings — and, at area airports.
The Port Authority said it expects almost 14 million travelers to use its airports, bridges and tunnels between the Christmas and New Year’s holiday weekends, with nearly 8.6 million vehicles expected and nearly 5.2 million airline passengers. To accommodate the volume increases, the Port Authority suspended all lane closures for “non-emergency construction” between 5 a.m. Dec. 23 and 5 a.m. Jan. 2 — though it warns that ongoing construction related to the $19-billion redevelopment at Kennedy Airport will result in “delays and reroutes” of traffic, leading to delays.
Travelers are advised to arrive at least three hours in advance on departure times for international flights and two hours ahead of scheduled departure times for all domestic flights, the Port Authority said.
Air travelers are being advised to “pre-book” guaranteed parking at the three major airport, and the MTA is “strongly” encouraging those travelers to use public transit at the airports when possible. That includes use of the Jamaica AirTrain JFK station from Grand Central and Penn Station.
The MTA also issued a reminder that alcohol is banned on all trains and in all stations from noon on New Year’s Eve to noon on New Year’s Day.
The Long Island Rail Road will run on a weekend schedule on New Year’s Eve, with extra evening trains to Manhattan on the Babylon, Montauk, Port Jefferson, Port Washington and Ronkonkoma branches.
That weekend schedule will also be in effect Monday, New Year’s Day, with extra trains running between midnight and 4 a.m. from Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal on the Babylon, Long Beach, Montauk, Port Jefferson, Port Washington and Ronkonkoma branches.
The MTA said additional Babylon Branch trains also will be on “standby” at Jamaica for those transferring from Elmont-UBS Arena.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
