For Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Millions Line Sidewalks and Tune In

The crowd this year was thinner, most likely because of the persistent damp. Those who braved the rain, however, did so happily.

They stood in inches-deep puddles on street corners, heedless of soaked feet. They huddled under garbage bags turned raincoats, and sodden umbrellas — but everyone was smiling.

The crowd who turned out on Thursday would do anything for a front-row seat to see the giant balloons, colorful floats and spangled marching bands in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

River Hawley, 4, sat atop his father’s shoulders, his tiny, yellow mackintosh doing little to keep him dry. He’s never missed a parade in his life, his father said, and he wasn’t going to start today.

“I like wet,” River said. And, he added as their float went by, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

As the 98th iteration of the annual spectacle made its way down Central Park West and to the heart of Herald Square, there were all the old familiars: Snoopy overhead, Tom Turkey kicking things off and, of course, the Taylor Swift of Thanksgiving, Santa Claus, bringing up the rear. There were also a handful of protesters.

The crowd this year was thinner, most likely because of the persistent damp. Those who braved the rain, however, did so happily.

Kevin James, an auxiliary sergeant in the New York Police Department, said he volunteered for the parade for his 15th year in a row, despite the wet.

“I could be with my family,” he said. “But I’d rather be here with the people.”

Darely Atauje, 8, was wet through, but the parade made it worth it, she said. Well, one person did: “Ronald McDonald.”

The extended Ward family was truly soaked.

As they have done for 40 years, the family posted up on Central Park West at 2 in the morning for a prime spot, said Kevin Ward, 75. The goal this year was to see Bluey and the Wimpy Kid float by.

As parade experts, the Wards were well prepared: they brought buckets and strong pieces of lumber, which they assembled into makeshift benches for passers-by to rest on. There were also extra hats to give anyone who was cold and oodles of hand warmers to pass out to people who needed them.

“Rain or shine, snow or whatever,” Mr. Ward said. “We are thankful.”

Just before start time on Thursday morning, a group of star-shaped sugar cookies and human jingle bells stepped off a coach bus on Columbus Avenue and 77th Street and headed into position. Groups of people were gathered around the knees of a new Spider-Man balloon, and cheers were going up among the balloon handlers as they made ready to hit the parade route.

The original star of “Wicked,” Idina Menzel, scooted by a float sponsored by the Bronx Zoo and covered in wild animals, creating a tizzy of excitement among nearby balloon handlers. “She looked right at me,” one said.

On the downtown platform of the No. 1 train at the 86th Street Station, the Steinberg-Luo family was headed to the kickoff just before the parade’s 8:30 a.m. start time.

They had gotten a sneak peek already: The night before, they had seen the balloons being inflated on 77th Street. And the floats.

“I saw the turkey!” Jupiter Steinberg-Luo, 4, said of Tom Turkey, the parade’s animatronic grand marshal, adding, “He’s not actually a float — he’s a big, fat robot.”

His sister, Leonie, 8, said she was bursting with excitement. And gratitude: “It reminds me how grateful I am to live in New York City.”

Not for the first time in the parade’s history, protesters attempted to disrupt the procession.

Near 55th Street and Fifth Avenue, at least 21 pro-Palestinian protesters blocked part of the parade route and were taken into custody, according to the police. As protesters sat down in the middle of the street, a banner behind them read “Free Palestine.” Ronald McDonald could be seen floating above them in the background.

There are some differences at the parade this year because, after three decades, a new company has taken over production of the annual event.

Changes introduced by the new company, Silent House, included more cameras trained on the spectators lining the parade route, according to a spokeswoman.

There were also cameras circulating among the 700 clowns, 11 marching bands and the thousands of volunteer balloon handlers, who kept iconic characters like Minnie Mouse from flying away.

The spokeswoman for Silent House — which produced the halftime performance for this year’s Super Bowl — said its aim was to make the expected 30 million people watching on screens feel as if they were standing and cheering alongside the 3.5 million or so people watching in person.

The spectacle is taking place at a moment when Macy’s may be happy to have a diversion.

Days before the parade, the company announced that an employee, who was responsible for tracking how much the company spent on small-package delivery, had “intentionally” misstated and hidden up to $154 million in expenses.

And far from the festivities around the flagship store in Herald Square, the company has been painfully slimming down. Macy’s plans to close 150 stores over the next three years, leaving it with just 350 brick and mortar outlets — a little more than half of what the company had before the pandemic.

But on Thursday, Macy’s was in high spirits, tossing 300 pounds of glitter and 200 pounds of confetti over the 2.5-mile parade route, despite the rain.

Acts of nature — be it rain, gales, extreme cold or infectious disease — have hardly thwarted the parade before.

Even Spider-Man can’t be stopped.

Past iterations of the balloon suffered disaster. His leg was punctured by ice in 1989, his inflated head was gashed by trees in 1993, and the superhero was so mortally wounded just before the kickoff of the parade in 1998 that he never made it down Central Park West.

Today he was back for the first time in a decade, all 44 feet of him, a brand-new version of himself.

Shayla Colon contributed reporting.

The Flourishing World of Central Park

This verdant tourist destination is a pleasure ground for locals, too.

• 36 Hours in Central Park: With its endless trails, hidden nooks, museums and nearby night spots, the park is a hub for both thriving activities and where one can find a more tranquil, timeless Manhattan.
• Harlem Meer Center: The new center, opening early in 2025, will replace the Lasker Rink and Pool and will serve the largely Black and Latino communities surrounding the northern end of the park.
• Flaco’s Kingdom: Before his demise, the Eurasian eagle-owl’s escape from the Central Park Zoo and subsequent life on the loose captured the public’s attention and hearts.
• Shakespeare Hits the Road: To many people, Central Park in the summer equals Shakespeare in the Park. But this year, because of renovations at the theater traditionally hosting the productions, the show will step outside the confines of the park.
• Regreening in the Park: A construction project next to the North Woods, involves remaking a part of the park that serves as a backyard for nearby blocks in East Harlem, where green spaces are sorely missing.