New Yorkers welcome 2022 with Times Square ball drop

Just 15,000 spectators -- masked up, socially distanced, and with vaccine proof in hand -- were allowed into the official viewing area to watch the iconic giant glittering ball slowly drop during a countdown to midnight. Millions more watched on TV.

In previous years before the pandemic, some 55,000 people or so would attend the time-honored New Year's Eve event in midtown Manhattan, still a big upgrade from last year's audience of a few dozen.