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Rochester prepares for the New Year's celebrations

TWC News

The City of Rochester will usher in 2017 by hosting a free,  family-friendly New Year’s Eve Celebration at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park and the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on Main Street on Saturday evening.

The festivities will kick off with free open skating at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park Ice Rink.

A Family Skate will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by an Adult Skate (over 16 years old) from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Limited skate rentals will be available for $3 per person with a valid NYS license.

Starting at 7 p.m, there are activities indoors at the Convention Center, with a DJ dance party  and kid-friendly inflatable attractions will include a giant bounce house, climbing wall, obstacle course and a giant slide.
The evening will end with fireworks, best viewed from the Main Street Bridge, at 10 p.m.

There will be some street closures in downtown Rochester on Saturday including Main Street from South Avenue to Exchange Boulevard from 6:30 to 11pm.

Mayor Lovely Warren says Police Chief Mike Ciminelli has beefed up patrols in advance of the celebration.

"We're going to have extra officers on duty to make sure that everyone is safe that night.  And we ask everyone to come out and have a great time in our center city," Warren told WXXI News.

Last year's fireworks show was canceled after the arrest of a man accused of a terrorist-inspired plan to kill people at a local bar. Emanuel Lutchman later pleaded guilty to a federal charge.

Warren dedicated the fireworks celebration to women's suffrage, saying that, “Since 2017 marks the 100-year anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in New York, I would like to dedicate this year’s fireworks display to Susan B. Anthony and all the women like her who fought selflessly for the freedoms we enjoy today." 

RTS  will be providing free bus rides on New Year's Eve.  The offer applies to all routes in Monroe County and it begins on Saturday at 6pm and lasts until the final bus line-up at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.