Crowds build in New York's Times Square ahead of New Year's revelry

By Frank McGurty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of merrymakers converged on Times Square on Saturday evening, hours before the giant New Year's Eve ball makes its midnight descent, a century-old New York tradition unfolding this year under an unprecedented blanket of security.

As many as 2 million people, surrounded by a ring of 40-ton sand trucks and some 7,000 police, are expected to gather in the "Crossroads of the World" to watch the glittering sphere complete its midnight drop, marking the beginning of 2017.

By sunset, a veritable sea of humanity had already streamed into the V-shaped plaza, where police herded them into temporary corrals designed for crowd control, each holding about 3,000 revelers. Anyone who leaves, even for a bathroom break, will lose his or her spot, according to the official website.

Michelle Adkins was so excited to be there that she left her sleepy friend behind at the hotel and headed for the bright lights long before the witching hour.

"I've waited my whole life to see Times Square," said Adkins, 51, who works in a tire manufacturing plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. "I didn't come to New York to sleep! I ain't got no time for sleep!"

Even though city and federal officials say they are not aware of any credible threats, a protective perimeter of 65 hulking sanitation trucks filled with sand, as well as about 100 other smaller vehicles, will encircle Times Square throughout the evening.

Placed in strategic positions, the "blockers" are intended to prevent a repetition of the truck attacks in Berlin and Nice earlier this year, officials said.

Despite the heavy police presence, or perhaps because of it, throngs of people, many from overseas, arrived hours early to get a prime view of festivities, which will include live musical performances by Mariah Carey, Thomas Rhett and Gloria Estefan.

For New York in winter, temperatures were relatively comfortable at just above 40F (5C) under cloudy skies, though the city warned of intermittent wind gusts of up to 40 mph, raising the threat of flying debris.

John O'Leary, 57, his wife, Claire, 51, and their two children were passing through Times Square on Saturday afternoon during a visit from their native England.

"It's just amazing," O'Leary said. "I just can't believe how they can manage all this, in terms of security."

At 11:59 p.m. (0459 GMT), the Waterford Crystal ball, five feet in diameter, will begin to slide down a pole that sits atop a building at the point where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue. When it completes its descent at midnight, a giant "2017" sign will illuminate and a shower of fireworks will light up the sky.

Authorities used the same strategy at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade after Islamic State militants encouraged followers to target the event, which drew about 3.5 million people to the streets of the city.

Since Donald Trump's election in November, blocker trucks have taken up positions on occasion near Trump Tower, his Fifth Avenue headquarters and residence, which are a short distance from Times Square. The president-elect is spending the holidays in Florida.

In addition, New York has deployed heavily armed police teams, snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs and helicopters. Coast Guard and police vessels will patrol waterways surrounding Manhattan.

U.S. defense and security agencies said they believed the threat of militant attacks inside the United States was low during the New Year's holiday, though the possibility of an attack, no matter how remote, was "undeniable."

Likewise, New York Police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a briefing this week that there were "no direct concerns" related to this year's festivities in Times Square.

Even so, he said, "we are going to have one of the most policed, best protected events and one of the safest venues in the entire world given all the assets we deploy here."

Chicago, San Francisco and other big cities across the country have also put heavy security in place to protect crowds expected to gather at public fireworks displays and other "first night" events.

In Washington, where federal budget cuts have done away with traditional New Year's Eve fireworks on the National Mall, no major events were planned. District of Columbia police declined to comment on any special security plans, saying only that events across the world are monitored for their potential impact on the U.S. capital.

(Additional reporting by Chris Francescani in New York; Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio and Steve Orlofsky)