After the Times Square bash, the cleanup: About 40 tons of trash

Strong winds lifted debris from the New Year's celebration as sanitation workers tried to clean up early yesterday. (Tina fineberg/Associated Press)

NEW YORK - One million revelers who packed themselves into Times Square, plus a ton of confetti and countless noisemakers, equal a whole lot of garbage - about 40 tons, according to the city's Department of Sanitation.

Cleanup crews hit the streets shortly after midnight following the 2009 ball drop. Sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis said 163 people worked until 8 a.m. sweeping up the party trash, and a new shift started at 11 a.m. to tidy up.

Because of the wind - nearly 25 mile-per-hour gusts throughout the city - the department wasn't quite sure how much trash was strewn about, but Mellis expected a little more than last year's 40 tons. The Times Square Alliance, which puts on the event, said about 1 million people attended.

The biggest cleanup challenge is shooing away the massive crowd so crews can begin work, Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty said.

"It takes awhile," he said. "Last night was a windy night. There's probably confetti as far as the East River."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was out early yesterday, praising the department's work and expressing optimism about 2009 despite the economic gloom that ushered out 2008.

"There were an awful lot of good things that took place in 2008," he said. "Fewer people went to bed hungry, fewer people slept without a roof over their head. Democracy continues to work in this country."

ASSOCIATED PRESS