A New Year’s Eve-sized army of cops will be on hand tomorrow for the NFL kickoff bash in Times Square.
High-ranking police sources say a maximum of 5,700 officers will be mobilized – the same number as at New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The cops will be deployed in two shifts, the sources said.
The first will start at 8 a.m. and work four hours of overtime. The second shift, which begins early at noon, will also include four hours of overtime.
So, from noon to 8 p.m., there will be 5,700 cops in Times Square – larger than all but a few police forces in the nation.
The size of the force stunned veterans of major police events.
“It’s humongous,” said one. “They’re treating this like it’s New Year’s Eve.”
But the NFL is paying $800,000 toward the cost of police overtime, and the city expects to gets its money’s worth from the 31/2-hour extravaganza – featuring Bon Jovi, the hip-hop artist Eve, R&B singer Alicia Keys and Latin heartthrob Enrique Iglesias.
The NFL will donate $4.5 million to the city for a future project in lower Manhattan, $500,000 toward the cost of the city’s commemoration of Sept. 11 and $14 million of air time during telecasts of the league’s games to promote the city as a tourist spot.
Above all, the city hopes the party will act as an antidote to the somber images marking the anniversary of Sept. 11 and show that the Big Apple is back on track.
“It’s a celebration of the American spirit,” said Ken Podziba, head of the New York City Sports Commission.
“It’s going to show the country and the world an image of New York City that is positive and uplifting. It’s going to show we’re moving on.”
For its part, the NFL will get a splashy kickoff for a season in which hopes for the Giants are so low that many fans are already looking ahead to next year.
The season kicks off a half-hour after the party ends, when the Giants face the San Francisco 49ers in the Meadowlands.
Like New Year’s Eve, tens of thousands of people are expected – perhaps more than 100,000 – although city officials declined to be more specific.
The best place to view the show is in front of the stage at 43rd Street and Broadway. For those not lucky enough to find a good spot, five giant TV screens will be set up from 48th to 52nd streets.
There had been plans to copy New Year’s Eve by dropping a football-shaped ball in Times Square when the extravaganza ends, but that idea has been scrapped.
NFL KICKOFF FAST FACTS
WHERE: Times Square
WHEN: Tomorrow, 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
HOW MANY PEOPLE: Tens of thousands
BEST TIME TO ARRIVE: 2 p.m.
BEST PLACE TO WATCH: In front of the stage at Broadway and 43rd Street. But there will be giant video screens along Broadway and Seventh Avenue, from 48th to 52nd streets.
PERFORMERS: Rockers Bon Jovi, hip-hop group Eve, R&B singer Alicia Keys and pop star Enrique Iglesias.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: The area from 42nd to 59th streets and Sixth to Eighth avenues will be closed to traffic. People wanting to see the show must enter at checkpoints at 47th, 49th, 52nd, 55th and 58th streets on Sixth Avenue, and 45th, 49th, 52nd, 55th and 58th streets on Eighth Avenue. You can’t bring chairs, and alcohol is banned.
IF YOU MISS IT: The highlights will air Friday on CBS, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.