NEW YORK (WABC) -- Usually a million people pack Times Square on New Year's Eve, but 2020 is not a usual year. There weren't any of the normal crowds at the Crossroads of the World Thursday night due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Mayor Bill de Blasio -- who was on stage to watch the ball drop -- offered a remarkably upbeat prediction for the event that ends a universally panned year. Times Square, he said, would be "magical," "joyous," "exceptional," "wonderful," and "amazing," and the mayor vowed it will singlehandedly unite the country into the new year. "In a country, in a city that sometimes could use some more unity, one thing that unifies us all as Americans, we want to get the hell rid of 2020," he said. "I think it's going to be an amazing moment."