New York City police turned to familiar tactics ahead of Thursday�s New Year�s Eve celebrations, deploying bomb-sniffing dogs and sand-filled sanitation trucks intended to guard against explosions.

But the department�s playbook included an unusual mandate this year: preventing crowds of any size from gathering in Times Square.

Citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19, police closed the Crossroads of the World to vehicles and pedestrians at midnight and dispersed onlookers venturing into a so-called �frozen zone� � the blocks surrounding the ball that historically draw shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.

The result, in the waning hours of 2020, was a Times Square that felt eerily empty. Police Commissioner Dermot Shea described the scene as �surreal.�

�It makes me a little bit sad,� said Cole Zieser, who recently moved to New York City. �It�s just not going to be what we wanted, what everyone dreams about in New York.�

The coronavirus has upended public life for months, and New Year�s Eve will be no different. This year, police said, revelers headed to Times Square won�t be permitted past police lines.

�If you think you�re going to be able to stand there and watch the ball, you�re mistaken,� Chief of Department Terence Monahan said, referring to the glittering, crystal ball that descends down a flagpole in Times Square each New Year�s Eve to mark the stroke of midnight.

Still, Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed, �It�s going to be a joyous night, if ever there was one. Goodbye, 2020. Here comes something better: 2021.�

�I cannot wait to get started� turning the page on a year when New York became an epicenter of the pandemic in spring, the Democratic mayor said. The city has counted over 25,000 deaths blamed on the virus.

The NYPD announced a two-part freeze that will become more expansive at 3 p.m. Even guests at five hotels in the area have been told to stay inside.

�It�s dead,� said Ali Jameel, who owns a store a block from Times Square. �We are dreaming for it to come back again like before.�

Juanita Holmes, chief of patrol for the NYPD, urged would-be partygoers to ring in 2021 �from the comfort of your home.�

�Coming to Times Square is a family tradition for some. It is a bucket list item for others. But this year is different,� she said. �I can�t emphasize enough how important it is for everyone to stay home.�

The Police Department will still roll out heavy weapons teams, explosive-sniffing dogs, drones and sand trucks. But it has planned a drastically scaled-back presence in Times Square, including an 80% reduction in its typical workforce assigned to the area.

�We always have to prepare for the worst in terms of counterterrorism overlays,� Shea said, �but the crowds will not be like they were in other years.�

This year�s celebration will unfold without the usual throngs of cheering, kissing revelers. Indeed, the event�s special guests, first responders and essential workers, were expected to watch the festivities from a private, well-spaced area.

�It�s almost like a �Seinfeld� episode,� Shea said, invoking the 1990s �show about nothing.�

�This is a ball drop about nothing, where you can�t see,� he said, �so you may as well stay home.�

(AP)