Organizers of Times Square's New Year's Eve celebration have lit the giant ball and sent it up the pole as a final test before the countdown to 2013.
The ball was lit and sent up its 130-foot pole and then back down again on Sunday.
Afterward volunteers inflated thousands of balloons that will be handed out to Times Square revelers.
Millions will watch the TV broadcast when the ball drop ushers in the new year at midnight Monday.
The 2013 ball is covered with 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles. It is illuminated by 32,256 LEDs in red, blue, green and white.
The ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
