New York, Texas fire officials: ‘Not ready to go’ for Christmas eve after massive explosion
New York City, Texas, Christmas Eve fire officials said Friday they had not yet decided on a time to go on holiday.
Fire officials said in a statement that their decision was still under review, but they expected to be ready for the holidays.
“We’re going to have to decide on a number of things,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter.
“New York City Fire Department is still working through the decision-making process.” “
Officials had originally planned to open the gates to the city’s Christmas Eve celebration for the first time on Friday. “
New York City Fire Department is still working through the decision-making process.”
Officials had originally planned to open the gates to the city’s Christmas Eve celebration for the first time on Friday.
But the city decided to shut the gates early to avoid an influx of visitors to the downtown area, which was already under a tight police lockdown.
The New York Post reported that New York Police Department spokesman Peter Boyer said he was not sure whether the city would open the city to visitors or not, citing information from the governor’s office.
The governor’s spokesman, Eric Adams, told CNN that the city was considering opening its Christmas Eve festivities to the public for the time being.
“As a precautionary measure, we are limiting the number of fireworks we can offer to our city’s residents,” Adams said.
Fire officials have been working on the plan to reopen the city as they scramble to put out a massive explosion that ripped through the city on Christmas Eve.
A New York Fire Department spokesman said the city had not finalized a timeline for opening the city fireworks.
Officials were already operating under a temporary lockdown, and officials were expecting tens of thousands of visitors from across the country to visit the city for the holiday, said Mayor Bill De Blasio.
De Blasio said he wanted to celebrate Christmas in a “peaceful, celebratory way” and that New Yorkers should celebrate their traditions.
It was the largest explosion in the city since Hurricane Andrew in 2008, which caused extensive damage and killed more than 700 people.
People are still being evacuated from the area, including from Manhattan and Long Island.
Authorities were working to evacuate people from the fire zone on Friday, but were not expecting to be able to safely bring them in.
Hundreds of thousands were expected to arrive in New York on Friday for a celebration of Christmas Eve, with thousands of fireworks set to be fired.