Powell To Ring in 2005 at Times Square
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Mayor Bloomberg will be spending the last moments of 2004 with Secretary of State Powell, who will be guest of honor at the 100th anniversary of the New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square.
Mr. Powell, a native New Yorker, is stepping down from his Cabinet job early next year and moving back to New York City.
“Colin Powell is the American Dream come true,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters at a Times Square press conference yesterday. That, the mayor said, makes Mr. Powell the ideal candidate for the New Year’s honor.
Mr. Bloomberg was also asked if he would invite Rep. Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican, to this year’s celebration. Mr. Shays rather infamously warned revelers last year to stay away from Times Square because he was certain it would be a terrorism target. Last year’s dropping of the ball there went off without a hitch.
Mr. Bloomberg said he would be happy to have Mr. Shays join him on the podium this year. “We would love to have Chris Shays,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “Actually, I should probably give him a call.”
Mr. Powell, for his part, sent out a written statement accepting Mr. Bloomberg’s invitation. “I could not imagine a better way to ring in the new year,” he said.
While this year’s party now has its special guest and officials are putting the finishing touches on the giant crystal ball that will fall at the stroke of midnight, there is one fixture that will be missing this year: “American Bandstand” legend Dick Clark. The 75-year-old television personality has been host of the New Year’s Eve party for 32 years, but he suffered a stroke earlier this month and is having talk-show host Regis Philbin fill in.
In the past, guests of honor have included Muhammad Ali and Christopher Reeve. Last year, Mr. Bloomberg spent the evening with a former Iraq prisoner of war, Shoshana Johnson.