NEW YORK (AP) – The revelry and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds that typify Times Square on New Year’s Eve were replaced by empty streets and an eerie quiet as the final moments of 2020 ticked away. Some celebrity performers took to stages set up in the mostly empty square to sing to a small group of masked essential workers. In the final minutes before midnight, Jennifer Lopez sang the Aerosmith classic “Dream On” beneath a blast of confetti. Spectators were banned from the area and were urged to watch the ball drop on television. Still, modest throngs of people gathered just outside the police perimeter and kissed and cheered at the stroke of midnight.