Workers install 192 crystals on Times Square New Year’s ball in NYC

Workers from Landmark Signs install a panel of Waterford crystal triangles on the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in New York, in preparation for the New Year’s Eve ball drop. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

by: Associated Press

Posted: Dec 27, 2020 / 12:56 PM PST

Updated: Dec 27, 2020 / 12:56 PM PST

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Workers installed 192 glittering Waterford crystal triangles on Times Square’s New Year’s Eve ball Sunday in preparation for a pandemic-limited celebration that will lack the usual tightly packed crowds of revelers.

The ball is a 12-foot geodesic sphere covered with 2,688 crystal triangles of various sizes. Some new crystals are swapped in every year. This year’s addition features a new “Gift of Happiness” design represented by a sunburst of bright cuts radiating outward.

The ball blazing with 32,256 LED lights will be dropped at 11:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2021. Performances at the event will be designed for TV audiences watching from home.