Casting aside fears over terrorism threats and worries over computer failures, more than 1 million people crushed into Times Square to usher in the new year, turning midtown Manhattan into the city's greatest street party.
Amid a cascading blizzard of multicoloured confetti, at midnight a 1,070 lb ball sculpted from Waterford crystal slid down the pole on Times Square and fireworks and floodlights lit up the canyon of buildings known as the crossroads of the world.
Below, a sea of revellers swayed, sang and danced in a jubilant welcome to the new era. Six large screens projected images of partying masses as they counted out the last few seconds of the old century.
For days before the celebration city officials had laid out their contingency plans for any Y2K-related glitches, or in case the high-profile city should fall victim to an apocalyptic bomb plot. But in the end the 8,000 police officers in Times Square had to deal with little more than a few drunken scuffles.
Organisers planned the Times Square 2000 bash for two years, promoting the event as the party of the century. It started early on Friday with the world's first new year broadcast on outdoor screens as the city awoke. A few hours later former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali rang the opening bell on the year's last day of Wall Street trading.
Squeezed together into a maze of barriers, tourists stood with native New Yorkers, Texans shared drinks with Californians and Scots waited with Indians to count down the hours to their own country's midnight.
Through the day New York cheered and hollered at every celebration as the new year dawned in nations across the globe. On a stage and on the screens, dancers, musicians and performers offered cultural snippets from their homelands.
As cherry blossom confetti fluttered and Japanese taiko drummers took to the stage when Tokyo celebrated and masked Indonesian dancers welcomed their nation's new year, the hourly countdowns fuelled the Times Square crowd finally towards New York's own raucous midnight.
