It was minus 12 Celsius in the city, and the celebration was less crowded than other years, with some of the metal pens, usually packed with people, only half- full.
Some revellers, bundled up in hats, gloves, face masks and numerous layers of clothing, jogged to keep warm, others bounced and danced. Some stood and shivered.
Mariah Carey made it through her set on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" after bungling the performance last year.
She dressed in a floor-length gown that exposed skin and a furry white coat, performing her 1990s hits "Vision of Love" and "Hero."
Carey asked for hot tea between songs and joked that it was a "disaster" that there wasn't any, but a year ago she stumbled through her short set, failing to sing for most of it despite a pre-recorded track of her songs playing in the background.
She was visibly upset during the performance a year ago and blamed the show's production team, but they ultimately buried the hatchet.
The dazzling finale of the show was the traditional drop of a Waterford Crystal ball down a pole atop 1 Times Square.
This year, the ball was 3.5 metres in diameter, weighs 5,385 kilograms and was covered with 2,688 triangles that changed colours like a kaleidoscope, illuminated by 32,256 LED lights.
When the first ball drop happened in 1907, it was made of iron and wood and adorned with 100 25-watt light bulbs. The first celebration in the area was in 1904, the year the city's first subway line started running.
After two terrorist attacks and a rampaging SUV driver who ploughed into a crowd on the same spot where the party takes place, police were taking no chances.
Security was tighter than ever before. Garages in the area were sealed off. Detectives were stationed at area hotels working with security officials to prevent sniper attacks.
Thousands of uniformed officers lined the streets. Concrete blocks and sanitation trucks blocked vehicles from entering the secure area where spectators gathered.
Partygoers passed through one of a dozen checkpoints where they were screened and then screened again as they made their way to the main event.
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The police department estimates that it costs $US7.5 million ($A10.5 million) to protect the event.
Tarana Burke, an activist who started a #MeToo campaign a decade ago to raise awareness about sexual violence, started the ceremonial ball drop, pushing the crystal button that officially began the 60-second countdown to the new year.
Just minutes after midnight, partygoers started to drain from the area as if a giant tub stopper has been pulled up.
And the cleanup begins, led by a small army of city employees including more than 200 sanitation workers, dozens of police officers who clear the area of confetti and other garbage.
Crews removed more than 40 metric tons of debris last year.
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