The Post finds out that if sold, the inflated balloon of artist Jeff Koons' Rabbit, which made its debut appearance in the 81st Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, would go for $5 million. The balloon isn't for sale, but the parade is so happy with the balloon that it's interested in ideas from other artists. Um, formaldehyde Damien shark, anyone? Or how about a Takashi Murakami Mr. Pointy balloon? Dan Flavin light balloon?......

Two men walking along the East 79th transverse near Fifth Avenue were robbed at gunpoint by four men around 7:15PM on Wednesday night. The victims, ages 34 and 38, gave up their wallets and a cellphone for the robbers, who are described as young "black males between 18 and 20" years old" who "fled in the direction of the Great Lawn." The 34-year-old victim spoke to the Daily News and explained he and his partner......

Yesterday's lovely weather made the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a big crowd pleaser. An estimated 3.5 million spectators watched as giant balloons, floats, and hundreds of parade performers sauntered from 77th and Central Park West to Herald Square. Some people waited since 4AM in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite performers, who included Dolly Parton, Wynonna, the cast of Legally Blonde, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, Good Charlotte, Menudo (really!), the Rockettes......

Starting in the afternoon, the masses traveled to the Upper West Side yesterday to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons get inflated on West 77th and West 81st Streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. By 6PM, crowds were penned in for blocks - it took us about 30-40 minutes of shuffling and snaking around before we could get close to any balloons. We suspect the Broadway stagehands' strike as well as......

Another gloomy day today. A bit of fog this morning may delay flights out of town. You may also have weather-caused delays if you're going to northern New England (ice and snow), Chicago-Detroit-Milwaukee (rain) and the front range of the Rockies from Denver northward (snow). If you're staying in town you can expect cloudy skies and mild temperatures with a high in the mid-50s. It won't cool off much tonight, making for a comfortable......

Tomorrow is one of our favorite days of the year: The annual Thanksgiving Eve inflation of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons! This year, there are twelve giant balloons: Dora the Explorer, Kermit the Frog, Healthy Mr. Potato Head (he's wearing a jogging suit), Scooby Doo, Ronald McDonald, Pikachu w/Poke-Ball, Energizer Bunny, Flying Ace Snoopy, and JoJo's Circus will be joined by new balloons Abby Cadabby, Shrek, and Super Cute Hello Kitty! As if Hello......

Green M&Ms have held this mythic place in many people's candy-eating consciences, whether due to fables, Van Halen's concert riders or advertising. And now green M&M's will be associated with a very real place in New York - Central Park. Tomorrow, M&M's World Store in Times Square will start selling a special new color, Central Park Green, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Central Park Conservancy. These M&M's have a mottled......

Yesterday's 80th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade went off smoothly, if very wet. The big balloons were kept low to the ground, due to concerns about the high winds, and basically stayed out of trouble, though, according to the NY Times, a Humpty Dumpty balloon "somersaulted" as one point and a Garfield balloon handler slipped during a gust. One 6 year old was overhead by the Daily News as saying, "I can almost reach out......

With weather advisories in effect, warning of storms and winds, city officials are contemplating what to do with Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. From the NY Times:The poor weather and heightened oversight could ground some or all of the 13 big balloons — 1 fewer than last year — that are set to fly today, starting at 9 a.m. In the best case, they could be flown so low as to practically be floats.......

Get ready for some helium action! The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons will be blown up tomorrow at 3PM on the Upper West Side. The blow-up is basically all around the American Museum of Natural History - along at 77th and 81st Streets between Central Park West and Columbus. There may be a helium shortage (who knew?), but planners know and have taken that into account. Just be sure to bundle up. The NY......

A look at some noteworthy programs this week: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (WABC 7, Monday, 8:00 p.m.) The annual showing of this timeless classic Peanuts cartoon is always a must see. Despite being from 1973, the show holds up quite well and is a welcome reminder of simpler times. But would you really eat a Thanksgiving dinner catered by a beagle? He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (WABC 7, Monday, 8:30 p.m.) After the classic Thanksgiving......

The History Channel is creating a wild, NYC-centric float for this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. According to its press release:Designed to mirror a child's tin wind-up toy, The History Channel float will feature a giant replica of New York City's most famous skyscraper, the Empire State Building. In addition, the float will reveal through its wind-up motion, iconic dates, celebrations and locations, tracing the history of New York City. Through the artistry of......

Last November, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was marred by an incident where Red and Yellow M&M parade balloons fell into a streetlight. The lamp fell on top of sisters Sarah and Mary Chamberlain (ages 11 and 26) from upstate New York who watching the parade; luckily, the two were not seriously injured. Mayor Bloomberg promised to form a task force, and, yesterday, he released the findings of the Thanksgiving Day Parade Safety Task......

Oh, Bloomie, Bloomie, Bloomie. Mayor Mike shot an arrow at State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday on his weekly WABC radio address. After Spitzer has moved to slow/stop/co-opt a number of his and Pataki's larger projects (read: The city's planned purchase of the West Side Rail Yards from the MTA and Moynihan Station) Bloomberg made it very clear that he thinks Spitzer needs to just let elected officials do their job: "The tendency when......

Maybe Gothamist has Thanksgiving on the brain, what with yesterday's Pikachu balloon test, and our overall love of the holiday (we love turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie and...). But how could we not post about some great photographs from a 1930s Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? Reader Jon sent us a link to a Swaptorium post describing a trove of photographs found in a small Texas town. Swaptorium writes, "The marquee......

Strong winds caused the M &M's balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to hit a street lamp whose light fell onto two spectators. The light, at 43rd Street and Times Square, dropped 30 feet onto a pair of sisters - and as you can see in the photo of the light, those suckers are big. The NY Times reports that 11 year old Sarah Chamberlain "had a chipped tooth and was cut in......

With his new Humpty Dumpty balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the NY Times has three great video pieces with sculptor Tom Otterness. One is naturally about having a balloon in the parade, and another is about his themes as an artist. But the best one is about his wonderful subway installations at the West 14th Street A/C/E and L station: Otterness discusses the statue that's in the stairwell (see the screengrab at left)......

Ooh: Sculptor Tom Otterness has a helium balloon in tomorrow's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - a balloon of Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty seems like a perfect subject for Otterness, whose round figures do seem eggish. You can see the balloons for the parade being blown up on the Upper West Side, at West 77th and West 81st Streets and Central Park West (near the Museum of Natural History), from 3PM-10PM today. [Gothamist went two......

Only five days left until Turkey day! And you know what that means... Time to start to figure out exactly what you are going to do on the worst travel day of the year (assuming that, like us, you don't already know). Most of our friends are planning to do the standard "sleep late, go to the parents house, eat too much turkey, drink too much wine, pass out, wake up, eat leftovers" routine......

Kermit the Frog visited our fair city this past weekend, and did many typical New York things: He visited the Empire State Building, took a taxi, sat in a tree, and rode the subway. Our only questions are "Did the subways seem safer than the swamp?" and "Where was the pig?" At any rate, this visit was more G-rated than the steamy pre-Thanksgiving night canoodling Kermit the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon engaged in,......

Yesterday, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade went off without a hitch. Spongebob Squarepants, Pikachu, Super Grover, and more friends were guided down Manhattan to Herald Square, accompanied by clowns, marching bands, floats, and other performers. In fact, many people were caught with their coats tied around their waists, what with 64 degree weather. And the lovely weather is credited for making sure 2.5 million people turned out for the parade! The NY Times noted......

Gothamist wishes all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are thankful for quite a few things - funny pictures of Mayor Bloomberg, a really good sandwich, passing Law & Order on-the-street sets, secret music shows, people who let us pet their dogs. Most of all, we're happy we've made many so many friends, new and old, that we've made through the site (new contributors, readers) who teach us new things and encourage us to......

Actually, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade officials are a little more worried about the weather. Ever since an incident in 1997 where a balloon (Gothamist believes it was the Cat in the Hat) knocked over a lamppost and hit parade watchers, leaving one woman in a coma for a month, parade officials have consulted with meteorologists about parade day weather, and tomorrow is expected extremely windy. In fact, balloons are to remain grounded if gusts......

Mark your calendars: Next Wednesday, November 24, is when the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ballooons will be blown up along Central Park West, at West 81st and West 77th Street. Gothamist was there last year and had a great time, navigating our way through a mob of parents and their children ("BARNEY!!!!"). Thanksgiving is traditionally Gothamist's favorite holiday, since it centers around eating a lot of yummy food. New York magazine has had a......

Our temperatures are above normal. It don't look too pretty outside but Gothamist likes this warm spell we're having. Tomorrow looks to be a repeat if maybe a degree or two warmer. Cool and rainy on Saturday, a good day to stay inside or go to a party. The rain might continue into Sunday but it should warm up again. There isn't much on the weather horizon after the warm front passes us on Sunday.......

Last night, Gothamist went to check out the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Inflation Night up at West 77th and West 81st Streets off Central Park West. Newsday reports thousands went to check it out, and it did feel that way: It was a zoo of Thanksgiving Parade enthusiasts, tourists, and mainly tons of parents and children. Overheard, parent to child: "Big Bird is sleeping. He'll wake up in time for the parade!" and we......

Does Miss Piggy know this is what happens when Kermit comes to NY? Gothamist finds it crazy that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade people would let the many children passing by see Cloe the Clown Doll (a girl, according to Macy's information) in such a position with Kermit. Of course, we're ridiculously immature and couldn't stop laughing and pointing it out. [More pictures at Bluejake.com]......

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is tomorrow and New York is excited. Starting at 9AM, balloons will make their way from 77th Street and Central Park West, down CPW, the Broadway, to 34th Street and Broadway. Heading off the parade will be Jake, an inflatable turkey recreated from vintage balloons, followed by more helium friends. (tale of two cities looked at this year's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons as well as suggested some new ones.) Performers......

NY1 breaks the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade related article we're aware of. Volunteers who will leading balloons from 81st Street and Central Park West to Herald Square had their first training session on Saturday at the Meadowlands. Which then reminds Gothamist that there are just 72 days to do your Christmas shopping. Lord.......