nbc's chris palone tells us how those spectators will be greeted with the cold and also unprecedentedecurity. >> four, three, two, one, happy new year! >> the world's most famous crystal ball tested and ready to go. thousands of balloons inflated. the countdown to 2018 is in its final stages. >> come on in. make a cowboy sandwich. >> reporter: tourists have descended on midtown manhattan. >> it's the magic. it's the big city. it's the lights, the excitement, the crowds that we love. >> reporter: undeterred by bone-chilling cold. >> i have on layers. i learned -- i did a lot of research aboif and two pairs of leggings on. >> reporter: police say recent terror attacks in new york and around the world helped guide their latest security plan. >> this is going to be one of the most well-policed, best protected events and one of the safest venues in the entire world. >> reporter: thousands of officers will be on the streets, uniform, plain clothes and heavily armed anti-terrorism units using vapor sniffing dogs. officers have new instructions on how to spot and stop potential suicide bomber

we're going to go live to times square to chat with nbc's chris palone later in the show. it will be a frigid outdoor party there. >> absolutely cold up in new york city. >> and they stay out there for hours. >> not me. >> not me either. >> no. >> in fact, i'm sticking closer to home. >> not this year, not another year. >> there's things to celebrate around here. many new year's celebrations happening. >> that's right. >> you don't have to stay up all night to ring in 2018. we have you covered starting at 10:00 a.m., you can bring the kids down to yards park in southeast d.c. for noon yards eve. love it. it's going to be a holiday wonderland for kids and adults plus a balloon drop right at noon. alexandria, celebrate with first night alexandria. music will be scattered throughout buildings in the old town. adults you have to pay. the kids are free. fireworks will go off at midnight. those are free for everyone. for the first time ever, there will be a ceremonial hoisting of the anchor at the capital yacht club down at the new district. >>> if you plan on celebrating new ye

open apartment door and up the building's stairwell chasing residents who were trying -- >> nbc's chris palone is in new york. he has new details on the 12 people who were killed. >> reporter: a dozen people are dead and fdny investigators say a young boy is the blame. >> we found that this fire started in the kitchen on the first floor. it started from a young boy 3 1/2 years old playing with the burners on the stove. >> the fire broke out in a bronx apartment building thursday night. investigators say it spread quickly to other floors when the young boy's mother left her apartment door open as she escaped with her children. >> fire travels up, the stairway acted like a chimney. it took the fire quickly upstairs people had very little time to react. >> reporter: the fast moving flames forced dozens onto fire escapes and during brutal cold as fire crews tried to rescue them. >> they're on their way down now. >> reporter: joel rodriguez made it out alive. >> jacked the a.c. out of the window, threw it on the sofa. had my wife get out. spent two hours battling the flames, the oldest victim 56, t

as nbc's chris palone reports, investigations -- investigators, rather, believe that a toddler playingith burners on a stove sparked the whole thing. >> reporter: a dozen people are dead and fdny investigators say a young boy is to blame. >> we found that this fire started in the kitchen it started from a young boy, 3 1/2 years old, playing with the burners on the stove. >> reporter: the fire broke out in a bronx apartment building thursday night. investigators say it spread quickly to other floors when the young boy's mother left her apartment door open as she escaped with her children. >> fire travels up the stairway acted like a chimney. it took the fire so quickly upstairs that people had very little time to react. >> reporter: the fast-moving flames forced dozens onto fire escapes and into the street, enduring brutal cold as firefighters tried to rescue them. >>> joel rodriguez made it out alive. >> jacked out the ac, threw it on the sofa, had my wife get out. >> reporter: 170 firefighters spent two hours battling the flames. the oldest victim 56, the youngest just eight months. >

nbc news correspondent chris palone has more on celebrations taking place around the world. >> reporter to new york city, police in cities around the world are working to keep new year's eve celebrations safe. in berlin, workers spent saturday setting up barriers around the gate where hundreds of thousands are expected to ring in the new year. large bags and suitcases are banned from the event. >> i feel pretty safe. i'm not scared. >> i'm not scared. >> yeah, yeah, it's fear that scares people, and i don't think -- you can't let that ruin your life. >> in brazil, rio has fireworks and 2,000 officers are watching over the festivities, and tourists more concerned about the weather than security. >> we think it's going to be very, v and we hope it will not be raining tomorrow. >> reporter: in new york, keeping 2 million people safe sunday night is the top priority for the nypd. >> there's going to be one of the most well-policed, best-protected events in one of the safest venues in the entire world. >> reporter: this month, a would-be suicide bomber tried to set off a bomb in a walkway un

coming up, we'll go live to times square and chat with chris palone.has a look at the party tonight. >> that will be cold in times square. >> i have no interest in standing there for hours in the cold. the practice run that would be me. >> i lived in new york. it's always fun to walk at a distance from there. standing in that all day long, it's one of the things maybe once in your life. >> those sticking closer to home for the holiday, there are plenty of things to do around here for new years. >> absolutely. you don't have to stand up all night to ring in 2018. starting at 10:00 a.m., bring the kids down to yard park in southeast d.c. for noon yards eve. get this, there will be a holiday wonderland for children and adults but a balloon drop right at noon. >> i like that. >> over in alexandria, celebrate with first night alexandria. always fun there. music scattered throughout celebrations. adults have to pay there, the kids are free. the fireworks will go off at midnight and those are free for everyone. for the first time ever, there will be a ceremon