Politics
500 Drones Over Central Park? Nothing to Worry About.
Both Central and Prospect Parks are planning drone shows on New Year’s Eve, after canceling their usual fireworks displays.
Good morning. It’s Wednesday. We’ll get details on drone shows in Central Park and Prospect Park that are planned for New Year’s Eve. We’ll also find out why a judge upheld a bribery charge that Mayor Eric Adams is facing.
Credit…Christopher Lee for The New York Times
Unlike the brightly lit objects in the sky that have left people in the Northeast on edge in recent weeks, there won’t be anything mysterious about 500 drones that are to climb toward the sky above Central Park on New Year’s Eve.
Or another batch of illuminated drones that will fly over Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
They will be deployed for light shows that will take the place of the usual fireworks spectacle at midnight.
But instead of lighting up the night sky to the delight of all the onlookers who can see the sky over the park, the Central Park drone show will be seen mainly in a “frozen zone” on the 72nd Street transverse, south of the Bethesda Fountain. It will be “event-facing,” according to the New York Road Runners, which plans to stage it, meaning that it will be directed at the 4,000 runners taking part in the annual Midnight Run. The drones will project images that have to do with — what else? — running.
The Road Runners dropped plans for the fireworks show a couple of weeks ago because of the drought and is awaiting city permits for the drone show.
