NEW YORK, Dec 2 (AFP) - The traditional Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center here was lit up late Wednesday, only hours after three AIDS activists were arrested for chaining themselves to the base of the 30-meter (100-foot) pine.
Several demonstrators were protesting that the ceremony switching on the lights on the Christmas tree was being held on AIDS awareness day.
The tree's 30,000 light bulbs were turned to the cheers of hundreds of onlookers.
In another part of the city, technicians tested the Times Square 2000 ball that is to usher in the new millennium by dropping from atop One Times Square building in the final minute of 1999.
In the same Bronx warehouse, the four-digit, 2.1-meter (seven-foot) high, 2000 sign that will light up once the ball completes its 23-meter (77-foot) drop was also tested.
Members of the NYC 2000 committee, in charge of the festivities, told AFP the sign and ball had passed their tests and that all was ready for the 24-hour millennium celebrations that will attract an estimated million party goers.
991202
AF991219
Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 1999 - AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, that no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
©1990, 2000 - ÆGiS. ÆGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on ÆGIS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGIS and the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, or the party credited as the provider of the content.