New York preps for a glittering new start as 192 crystals installed on Times Square New Year’s ball

The ball is a 12-foot geodesic sphere covered with 2,688 crystal triangles of various sizes.

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.

Workers from Landmark Signs carefully carry a panel of Waterford crystal triangles to place onto the Times Square New Year's Eve ball, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in New York, in preparation for this year's pandemic-limited celebration. (AP)

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.

A worker holds one of the 192 Waterford crystal triangles that will be placed on the Times Square New Year's Eve ball, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in New York. (AP)

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.