BY TOM HAYS

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Each year, the New York Police Department assigns thousands of extra patrols to festivities--in ways seen and unseen--to control the crowd and watch for any signs of trouble. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world are expected to pack into the bow-tie stretch of streets in Midtown Manhattan to see the crystal ball drop and ring in 2013.

"We think it's the safest place in the world on New Year's Eve," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said ahead of the holiday.

Security in Times Square has become an obsession for the NYPD in the post-9/11 world, especially since the botched attempted car bombing there in the summer of 2010. More recently, details emerged in a case in Florida saying that one suspect considered Times Square as a potential target.

"Times Square is an iconic location that draws a significant number of people every day," Kelly said. "New Year's Eve is the apex of that, so we have to plan accordingly."

Kelly stressed that there are no specific terror threats related to a celebration televised across the globe. But believing that the so-called "Crossroads of the World" is always in the crosshairs of would-be terrorists, the nation's largest police department has turned securing the event into a science.

Police noticed last year that revelers started flocking to Times Square earlier in the day to hear performers rehearse. So this year, the department will post more officers on the streets before nightfall, the commissioner said.