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An upcoming celebration marking America’s 250th anniversary is set to feature a Times Square ball drop, but don’t expect to take part in person.
Organizers have confirmed that this event will proceed as scheduled at midnight on July 3, despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recent emergency directive, which prohibits numerous public festivities in New York City during the FIFA World Cup.
In an unexpected announcement, organizers declared that the event will still happen, but without an audience on-site.
“The July 3rd Ball Drop is on schedule and will occur at One Times Square, complete with a live broadcast and celebration,” stated America250 and One Times Square in a joint message. “Though the Times Square plazas won’t host a public gathering, we are collaborating with city officials and will provide more details soon.”
It’s still uncertain how the event will unfold without the usual throngs of spectators, a hallmark of the city’s famed New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The event has not yet received the needed permits to hold a public event and it’s unclear if they will, sources told The Post.
Officials at City Hall did not respond to repeated inquiries from The Post, while the NYPD referred all questions about the event to the mayor’s office.
The statement from organizers comes after the city Parks Department adopted a rule at the request of the NYPD, denying new permits for special events on park property during the tournament, which runs from June 11 to July 19.
The announcement prompted pushback from critics, including the NYPD Police Benevolent Association, which said the measure wouldn’t be necessary if the city did a better job hiring more cops to fill depleted ranks and keeping more of New York’s Finest from leaving.
“We’re still 6,000 cops short of peak staffing, with hundreds more leaving the job every month,” NYPD PBA President Patrick Hendry said Monday. “Police officers are already burned out by the short-staffing they experience on a daily basi.
“When this summer’s massive workload hits, it’s going to push even more of them out the door.”
Sources said the mid-summer Times Square ball drop could be among the events denied permits under Mamdani’s decree, but added that negotiations are ongoing.
Rosie Rios, who chairs America250, said last year that the July Times Square program calls for the ball to light up in red, white, and blue before 2,000 pounds of patriotic confetti are set off. Broadcast networks will screen a video to mark the occasion titled “America Turns 250.”
That will be followed by a “dynamic pyro finale” set to “America the Beautiful.”
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods