Celebrants Pause to Mourn Tsunami Victims

A century after the first New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, hundreds of thousands of revelers crowded the streets and sidewalks to welcome 2005, but paused for a moment of silence to mourn the devastation of the South Asian tsunami.

"I think we all have to look in the mirror tonight before we go to bed and recognize just how lucky we are and that not everyone else is so lucky," New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told the crowd.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, a native New Yorker, pressed the button at 11:59 p.m. that sent a 1,000-pound Waterford crystal-covered ball on its final 60-second descent into the new year.