Networks are planning for the worst this NYE ​​in New York and ready to pull A-list hosts – as anti-Israel protesters threaten to derail celebrations for more than 1 million revelers in the Big Apple

Cable networks are preparing for the worst as they fear their plans for live broadcasts on New Year’s Eve will have to change if disorderly pro-Palestinian supporters take over Times Square.

Anti-Israel protesters are threatening to derail Dec. 31 celebrations in the Big Apple — where more than a million revelers from around the country and the world are expected to bring in the New Year.

The NYPD is pulling out all the security stops in view of the potential violence on the streets of New York City. Protests have been taking place in the city since Hamas brutalized Israeli civilians, sparking a conflict in the Middle East on October 7.

Television networks are also gearing up for a heady night ahead of the ball drop — and they’re “prepared for anything and everything,” according to sources who spoke to Deadline.

The program ‘Shut it down! The Protest for Palestine, organized by anti-Israel groups, will begin in the afternoon and disrupt New Year’s Eve celebrations.

They start at Columbus Circle, the location of the headquarters of CNN – the network that will air Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen’s New Year’s Eve specials.

This will be the seventh year that Cooper and Cohen have organized the spectacle.

In addition to CNN, anchors from other major networks will also broadcast live from Times Square, where the protests threaten to reach.

ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest is co-hosted by Rita Ora – featuring artists such as LL Cool J, Megan Thee Stallion, Jelly Roll and Sabrina Carpenter.

The celebrations in Times Square begin at 6 p.m., when the six-ton ​​crystal ball is lit and raised. At 11:59 p.m., the ball begins its one-minute fall in front of hundreds of thousands of cheering partygoers.

Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference Friday that “there are no specific threats to the city,” but “as we saw last year, after not having any specific threats, we are going to have a threat, and we will be ready for it .’

He was referring to the fact that three officers were attacked by a Maine man, 19, with a machete on December 31, 2022, over US support for Israel.

Several anti-Israel protest groups have belligerently shut down festivities in the Big Apple since October 7. The Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was interrupted by enthusiastic pro-Palestinian supporters, as was the lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

Assistant NYPD Commissioner Kaz Daughtry stated on December 29, “We will have tow trucks strategically parked along the actual New Year’s Eve festivities, and we will have drones deployed around the outer perimeter so that we can see the protests, potential protests that are coming in real time.”

Adams added: ‘Hundreds of thousands of people will be queuing here, and no matter how many times we see it, you never get used to it, the excitement continues again and again.”

Times Square will be locked down from around noon on New Year’s Eve and anyone wishing to enter the area must pass through police and security checkpoints.

Homeland Security and the FBI will be in Times Square, along with state police, mounted police and canine units.

a law enforcement source said Deadline that police presence “will be significantly greater than normal.” A lot can happen, we are prepared.’

And one cable news source, knowing that on-camera airtime is the goal of many protesters, said, “We are prepared for anything and everything, especially when it comes to the safety of our team.”

This comes after protesters, calling for a ceasefire as 21,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, disrupted all the city’s major celebrations and parades since the October attacks.

Assistant Chief John Hart emphasized the department’s preparedness for groups of varying sizes and origins of protests.

Other pro-Palestinian protests in the city over the past few months have drawn between 1,000 and 5,000 people.

“We are prepared for them in any number,” Hart said. “We are prepared for different groups from different places and we will ensure this event remains safe.”

Adams, a Democrat, conceded that it was likely that protesters would try to cause disruption in Times Square, where more than a million people were expected to gather to celebrate at midnight.

This comes days after police arrested pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked access to New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Travelers were forced to get out of their cars and walk with their luggage to the airport in New York after activists demanding a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas blocked the road to one of the country’s largest and busiest airports on Wednesday. country had blocked.

Video shows protesters joining hands to create a line blocking traffic, holding signs calling for a free Palestine and chanting, “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.” ‘

Port Authority police arrest the protesters, load them onto an airport bus and take them into custody.

Thousands of police officers are expected to patrol Times Square along with a combination of robots, drones and sniffer dogs to ensure the security of the event.