Page 2 - aruba-today-20201231

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 31 december 2020
After a year like this, expect a strange New Year's Eve

Continued from Front still on, but customary con-
certs in public plazas have
The occasion stirs mixed been scrapped in favor
feelings for people like Ce- of livestreamed perform-
sar Soltero, who was taking ances and art installations.
photos, and taking stock, in Pope Francis will skip his
Times Square this week. typical Dec. 31 visit to the
"I'm going to celebrate Vatican's life-sized Nativity
that I'm alive, but I'm not scene in St. Peter's Square
precisely too happy for this and plans to deliver his
year," said Soltero, 36, an New Year's Day blessing
engineer visiting from Or- indoors, to prevent crowds
lando, Florida, after forgo- from gathering.
ing his usual holiday trip to Rio de Janeiro nixed the
see family in Mexico. fireworks, open-air con-
Simona Faidiga and Ales- certs and rooftop parties
sandro Nunziata strolled that draw crowds of white-
through Times Square with clad revelers in the Co-
their Labrador retriever pacabana neighborhood,
puppy, Maggie, who has where only residents will be
given Faidiga a lift after she allowed in.
lost her tour guide job. New Year's Eve is one of the
The Italian couple moved busiest days of the year at
to Miami for new jobs in In this Dec. 31, 2019, file photo, revelers cheer as they wait in New York's Times Square to take part Paulo Roberto Senna's Co-
March, just as the pandem- in a New Year's Eve celebration. pacabana beach stand,
ic froze tourism. He is work- Associated Press but the 57-year-old said he
ing as a sales representa- that would normally be all block off the area so spec- will be first responders and was OK with the shutdown:
tive, but she is not back at but impassable. tators can't get a glimpse. essential workers. But they "No money can buy our
work yet. And they're not Vendors' carts and window "It's almost like a 'Seinfeld' won't be joining the mayor health!"
ready to declare 2021 will displays at the area's strug- episode," Police Commis- on stage to lead the count- Hot dog vendor Fabio Hen-
be better, not wanting to gling gift shops flaunted sioner Dermot Shea said, down. Instead, each guest rique saw it differently.
jinx it. Days ahead of the few 2021-themed souvenirs invoking the 1990s "show will watch from a private, "They tell us to stay home,
ball drop in Times Square, as workers set up a stage about nothing." "This is a ball well-spaced area. but for those who don't
it clearly wasn't New Year's for a celebration that will drop about nothing, where The night's performances have money, where are
as usual at the Crossroads unfold this year without the you can't see, so you may — including disco diva Glo- we going to get the means
of the World. There was usual throngs of cheering, as well stay home." ria Gaynor's singing of the to live?" asked Henrique,
room to roam on sidewalks kissing revelers. Police will The event's special guests apt-for-2020 anthem "I Will 39.
Survive" — will be aimed at In Russia, New Year's Eve
TV audiences. has been more widely cel-
New Year's Eve will look dif- ebrated than Christmas,
ferent around the world af- which is marked on Jan. 7
ter a year in which the virus by the country's Orthodox
killed an estimated 1.8 mil- Christian majority. Public
lion people, including more events have been banned
than 330,000 in the U.S. or restricted in many re-
Germany banned the sale gions. But the country's
of fireworks, which residents so-called New Year's Eve
usually set off in on the capital, the city of Kaluga,
streets, and a pyrotechnics is luring tourists with a week
show at Berlin's Branden- of festivities, despite pleas
burg Gate is off. from residents to cancel.
So, too, are the fireworks Officials in Kaluga, 150 kil-
over the River Thames in ometers (90 miles) south-
locked-down London, west of Moscow, said virus
where New Year's Eve also precautions will be taken.
marks Britain's final eco- Poland has told residents
nomic split from the Euro- not to circulate between 7
pean Union. However, Big p.m. on Dec. 31 until 6 a.m.
Ben, which has been large- on Jan. 1. Turkey declared
ly silent since 2017 while its a four-day lockdown start-
clock tower is restored, will ing on New Year's Eve, and
sound 12 bongs at mid- President Recep Tayyip Er-
night. dogan warned that secu-
The Netherlands moved rity forces will inspect hotels
the national countdown for illicit parties.
from an Amsterdam park In the U.S., the Christmas
to a soccer stadium, where morning bombing of the
spectators won't be al- downtown tourist district in
lowed in and pyrotechnics Nashville, Tennessee, led
will be replaced with "elec- the city to cancel its plan
tric fireworks." to light fireworks and blow
In Rome, the fireworks are up a 2020 sign.q