Increased security for the New Year holiday was being considered in light of the theft. But Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson said the city's millennium celebrations will not be canceled. The blasting caps for the explosives were left behind and one expert said the thieves couldn't do much without them. New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani criticized Seattle for canceling its New Year's party. No mayor, no governor, can offer anyone perfect security.
Life involves a level of risk.
New York's festivities will include a new crystal ball to be dropped at midnight in Times Square. The ball was designed by Waterford Crystal. It's six feet in diameter, weighs 1,070 pounds and is covered by 504 crystal triangles. At one minute before midnight, the ball will drop down the 77-foot flagpole atop One Times Square to signal the start of 2000. The first ball-lowering celebration in Times Square was held in 1907.