NEW YORK — With glittering fireworks and star-studded celebrations from New Zealand to Times Square, the world eagerly welcomed a new year and hoped for a better future, saying goodbye to a year of hurricanes, tsunamis and economic turmoil that many would rather forget.
Revelers in Australia, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, which jumped across the international dateline to be first to celebrate, welcomed 2012 with booming pyrotechnic displays.
Fireworks soared and sparked over Moscow’s Red Square, crowds on Paris’ Champs-Elysees boulevard popped Champagne corks at midnight, and hundreds of thousands of revelers jammed New York’s Times Square for the famed crystal-paneled ball drop.
Many approached the new year with more relief than joy, as people battered by weather disasters, joblessness and economic uncertainty hoped the stroke of midnight would change their fortunes.
“Once the ball drops, I won’t give 2011 another thought,” said Kyralee Scott, 16, of Jackson, N.J., whose father spent most of the year out of work.
Some New York revelers, wearing party hats and 2012 glasses, began camping out Saturday morning, as workers readied bags stuffed with hundreds of balloons and technicians put colored filters on klieg lights. The crowds cheered as workers lit the crystal-paneled ball that drops at midnight and put it through a test run, 400 feet above the street. The sphere, decorated with 3,000 Waterford crystal triangles, has been dropping to mark the new year since 1907, long before television made it a U.S. tradition.
As the country prepared for the celebration, many expressed cautious hope that better times were ahead after a year in which Japan was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami, hurricanes wreaked havoc across the country and a debt crisis devastated Europe’s economy.
“Everybody’s suffering. That’s why it’s so beautiful to be here celebrating something with everybody,” said Lisa Nicol, 47, of Melbourne, Australia.
For all of the holiday’s bittersweet potential, New York City always treats it like a big party — albeit one that now takes place under the watchful eye of a massive security force, including more than 1,500 police officers.
Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke in 2004, put in a couple of brief appearances mentioning that he has hosted his namesake New Year’s Eve celebration for years but said, “Tonight, it’s better than ever.” Clark, looking cheerful but struggling with his speech, introduced a performance by Lady Gaga and assisted in the countdown.
The show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, also featured a performance by Justin Bieber.
In Las Vegas, police shut down a 4-mile section of the Strip to vehicle traffic six hours before midnight, letting revelers party in the street.
Casino nightclubs touted pricey, exclusive bashes hosted by celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Fergie, and fireworks were expected to shoot from the rooftops of eight of the city’s most famous casinos.
Atlanta was welcoming thousands to its downtown, where a giant peach is dropped every New Year’s Eve at midnight.
Fireworks were to be launched from the top of the Space Needle in Seattle; in Houston, tens of thousands were celebrating at a party with country singer Delbert McClinton.
