Results tagged “thanksgivingdayparade”

Now that Halloween is out of the way, it's time to talk turkey. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is just around the corner, and it's getting a new route this year. As previously mentioned, the route will no longer go down Broadway after Columbus Circle and will instead had down 7th Avenue and then 6th Avenue towards Macy's. One reason is the new pedestrian plazas in Times Square while another is the fact that 6th and 7th Avenues are wider than Broadway. As previously mentioned, the route will no longer go down Broadway after Columbus Circle and will instead had down 7th Avenue and then 6th Avenue towards Macy's.

Everybody in New York knows that Thanksgiving is about one thing and one thing only: self-promotion. So it is with honor for our melting-pot of a country that NBC has reportedly banned the cast of 'Glee' from performing at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The cast of the hit Fox show was set to sing their hit cover of "Don't Stop Believin'" for the 83rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but apparently NBC didn't want to showcase their rivals' hit show. But wait, now who will provide the traditional Journey sing-along our forefathers fought for?

After rumors and review, the city officially announced that the Thanksgiving Day Parade will no longer go down Broadway below 59th Street but will head down 7th Avenue and then 6th Avenue before hitting Herald Square. Mayor Bloomberg said, "With more space available, the new route will be better for parade watchers, who come from New York and from all over the world, and better for the businesses that benefit from the activity generated by the parade. We expect this year's parade to be bigger and better than ever before."

Thanksgiving Day Parade Rick-Rolled

The 1930 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade certainly looked a little odd compared to the floats we see today. The Bowery Boys have now taken a stroll down memory lane, recalling some of the weirdest balloons to fly above Broadway in history. Above are a couple of old-timers, a Pinocchio from 1935 with a 44-foot nose, and a 1941 fish, which they call "artistic and graceful."

Out of all the choices last Friday night for Halloween, The Cardinals (don't call them Ryan Adams and the Cardinals anymore, that's his new peeve) provided perhaps the most low-key option. The audience was only partially costumed up at the historic theater in Harlem, and were, for the most part, politely restrained when it came to showing their love for the band. The audience stayed in their seats and behaved, and the Cards kept the drama to a minimum, with barely any of Ryan's infamous chatter. They played through almost the entirety of their latest album, as well as plenty from the whole back catalogue. Perhaps taking advantage of the break before returning to tour with Oasis, they even threw in his classic cover of "Wonderwall" to a stone quiet crowd. The band will be back in December with Noel and Liam and the rest at MSG.

Will Macy's give its regards to Broadway? The NY Times reports that the developers who are trying to redevelop the James Farley Post Office building into the new Moynihan Station "are in the early stage of negotiations with Macy’s" to move from the store's landmark Herald Square location to the Farley building on Eighth Avenue. Charles Bagli's article summarizes the progress of the Penn Station redevelopment and Farley-into-Moynihan Station project: It's complex, given the...

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!

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...

a Statue of Liberty M&M floating by.

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.

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. In the worst case, as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg warned, the hapless helium-filled creatures could be pulled onto side streets and summarily deflated.

Continue reading "Will the Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons Fly?"

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.

A look at some noteworthy programs this week:

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 the Macy's Parade Studio team, the float will feature landmark events throughout history from the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty to Babe Ruth's defining moments at Yankee Stadium, to the world-famous World War II "Kiss" in Times Square, all helping to bring history to life.

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 you're near the end of an administration [is] to say, 'Oh, let's postpone everything for the next administration, so the next administration gets a chance to weigh in.' "

Continue reading "Bloomie to Spitzer: Let Us Do Our Jobs"

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 on the movie theater is showing Divorce in the Family with Jackie Cooper which would date the photos to around 1932."

It's November in May...or something. DailySnapshots went up to Times Square to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade practice. NY1 is reporting that traffic was snarled all over Midtown for most of the morning because of it. The exercise was intended to avoid the tourist-maiming incidents that have occurred in years past. But what will Pikachu do without his semi-annual blood sacrifice? Only time will tell!

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 the back of the head" (now there are 9 stitches); her 26 year old sister Mary, who was in a wheelchair, had a CAT scan. Their father, Stephen Chamberlain, said, "It was a freak accident. We're very lucky. We're counting our blessings. Sarah's main concern was that she didn't see Santa Claus after the parade - so Macy's sent Santa to the hospital." Not only did Santa visit Sarah, but Mayor Bloomberg as well! The Mayor promised to form a task force to look into the accident, just as Mayor Giulliani did when the Cat in the Hat balloon hit a streetlamp that fell on top of a woman who then went into a coma. At any rate, Stephen Chamberlain said they would visit the parade next year; we imagine that Macy's will be offering them prime seats, as well as a settlement.

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) being touched by straphanders for good luck.

The Thanksgiving Day Parade has made it way down, with better weather (less windy, barely wet) than expected. For those of you who stayed out in the 40 degree weather, we that hope you warm up soon - and that you brought your camera so we can see pictures of the celebrating on Flickr. And tell us if you had a good time. Now, it's on to the eating!

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 years ago, and we saw a nutty balloon orgy.] Today's Times also looks at the training baloon handlers are getting this year. Those who fail to remember history...blah blah blah. We can recall all the changes that Macy's made a year after the injury of a spectator in 1997, but it looks like those changes are history.

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 but what other options are there?