Times Square Had 1 Million Revelers, Zero Tickets

Of all the statistics from the recent New Year’s Eve in Times Square—1 million revelers, 2,000 pounds of confetti, thousands of police officers, dozens of surveillance cameras—there is one number that stands out: zero, as in zero tickets for low-level crimes.

A police officer walks through Times Square in New York on Jan. 8, 2015. In bustling Times Square, where scores of tourists wander through streets clogged with traffic and hawkers selling trinkets, low-level enforcement activity had all but grinded to a halt. AP Photo/Seth Wenig

NEW YORK—Of all the statistics from the recent New Year’s Eve in Times Square—1 million revelers, 2,000 pounds of confetti, thousands of police officers, dozens of surveillance cameras—there is one number that stands out: zero, as in zero tickets for low-level crimes.

No tickets for having an open container of alcohol, no tickets for public urination, no tickets for double parking, no tickets for furry, costumed characters hassling tourists to take their picture. Add in low-level arrests, and there was just one, for a subway-related offense.

"They haven't been on top of us like they used to."

— Luis Martinez, Times Square character