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Thousands are already taking to the streets of Manhattan, mainly around Times Square, to celebrate the announced end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Police are responding by organizing water distribution centers and places to rest.

“We’re all guaranteed the right to peaceably assemble,” said New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. “Today, we’re going to try responding the way police do in many other developed nations.” In the past, New York City police have usually responded to demonstrations with forces in riot gear.

After pausing a moment Kelly added, “You know, everyone on the force, we’re all just glad we’re here to help celebrate peace this time.”

The spontaneous street celebrations were the manner in which many first heard about the withdrawal. In Manhattan, as thousands thronged the city streets with Commissioner Kelly, only a few tuned in radios or checked news sites on the Internet. “I’ve just gotten overwhelmed by all the bad news, and I’m tired of learning that so much of what were told was lies,” Linda Negrobi, 42, told The New York Times in Washington Square Park, which was full of revelers. “At some point or other, I just stopped watching the news.”

Juan Villarosa, 18, agreed. “My brother was killed in combat last year in a war that never should have happened. You don’t turn to Wolf Blitzer for answers in that situation,” he said. The crowd at the uptown sandwich shop bubbled with conversation about America’s new direction.

“People are saying hello to each other in the street. I just had lunch with a group of total strangers where we just talked about what’s going on right now,” said Carrie Moore, a photographer’s assistant living in midtown. “It’s like this huge stress has been lifted.”

Makeshift signs were visible in office windows, among them: “Sleep with me”; “The end of our lives” with the V crossed out; and, simply, “YES.”

The street celebrations were unusual in the preponderance of business suits and professional attire. One celebrant, Farsala LaRue, 72, speculated on the somber hues.

“This is an issue that affected us all, on a daily basis, for seven years,” she said, pausing from a hopscotch game she was playing with her 7-year-old neighbor. “Not just the anti-war people, not just young people, not even just Democrats,” she said. “All of America is here today. I think it’s wonderful.”