New Yorkers and tourists from around the world will pack into Times Square on Sunday for what’s expected to be a flashy but frigid start to 2018.

Revelers began lining up well before noon, hours ahead of when the city will mark the start of 2018 with a glittering crystal ball drop, a burst of more than a ton of confetti and midnight fireworks.

It could be one of the coldest celebrations on record, held under tight security after a year that saw several fatal attacks on large crowds, including one in Times Square itself last spring.

After two terrorist attacks and a rampaging SUV driver who plowed into a crowd on the very spot where the party takes place, police are taking no chances.

Security will be tighter than ever before. Garages in the area will be emptied of cars and sealed off. Detectives are stationed at area hotels working with security officials to prevent sniper attacks.

Thousands of uniformed officers will line the streets. Cement blocks and sanitation trucks will block vehicles from entering the secure area where spectators will gather. Revelers must pass through one of a dozen checkpoints where they will be screened and then screened again as the make their way to the main event.

City officials are implementing a detailed plan including heavy screenings, street closures, counter snipers and specially trained dogs.

Backpacks, large bags, and umbrellas have been banned from the Times Square festivities.

“There are 12 access points for spectators to come in. Each one will have vapor wake dogs assigned there, and there will be heavy weapons teams,” NYPD Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan explained. “Once you go through there, you will proceed to the pens, you will again be screened a second time before you are allowed to enter the pens. There will be heavy weapons teams and dogs assigned throughout the entire viewing area. In addition, ESU will work hand in hand with FBI and Secret Service. We will have observation teams with counter sniper capabilities assigned throughout the entire viewing area.”

Armed officers, as well as undercover police, will be strategically positioned in and around Times Square accounting for potential terror threats as well as mass shooting attempts like the one on a Las Vegas concert in October.

“The difference between this year and last year is we are putting out more vapor wake dogs; We are also putting out more observation teams with counter sniper capabilities; And we are increasing the size of the uniformed details too,” NYPD Commissioner O’Neill said.

The police department estimates that it costs $7.5 million to protect the event.

Governor Cuomo’s office says the State Emergency Operations Center will be activated on New Year’s Eve and state agencies, including the New York State Police, National Guard, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are increasing security at high-profile locations in New York City, including airports, bridges, tunnels, and mass transit systems.

These measures are all precautionary. NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said there are no credible threats at this time.

Partygoers will be penned in place for hours and will have to bundle up.

The National Weather Service expects temperatures in the middle teens in Times Square at midnight Sunday, with wind chill values that could make it feel like minus 5 (-15 Celsius).

The event could rival some of the coldest New Year’s celebrations on record: In 1962 it was just 11 degrees outside, and in 1939 and 2008 it was 18 degrees. At least it won’t be as cold as the frostiest ball drop on record: 1 degree in 1907.

(AP)