December 26, 1999
Web posted at: 10:50 p.m. EST (0350 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- While downplaying concerns about terrorism, New York authorities have outlined plans to beef up security on December 31 in Times Square, which should host one of the world's largest millennium celebrations.

Along with noisemakers, a light show and an estimated two million revelers, Times Square will boast some 8,000 police officers, said Howard Safir, commissioner of the New York Police Department. Other parts of the city will be patrolled by a further 11,000 officers, authorities said.

The police deployment is part of a New Year's Eve security plan that New York officials have worked out over three years, Safir said.

The city will impose widespread traffic and parking bans beginning December 30. A large section of midtown Manhattan will be restricted to pedestrians only.

A police spokesman confirmed reports that numerous law enforcement agencies are combing police records to monitor potential terrorist suspects.

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Nonetheless, Safir maintains that the massive deployment of uniformed and plainclothes officers will keep New York safe. The police commissioner also said he has no reason to believe terrorists will target the city.

"We have good intelligence. I'm co-commander of the joint terrorist task force with the FBI here in New York. We have no specific information that anything is going to happen," Safir said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Correspondents Kelly Wallace contributed to this report.

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