Mild Weather Makes It Quite a Day for a Parade
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With temperatures in the 60s, an estimated 3.5 million revelers gathered along Central Park West and Broadway to view the colorful, helium-filled balloons in the 81st annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The day started early for those who staked claim to prime parade-watching spots. One such group of 28 parade-goers — family friends from Warren, N.J. — packed a picnic breakfast and spread out in camping chairs on 75th Street at Central Park West, near the start of the parade.
“It’s so worth it,” Annie Clemente, 19, said of her 6 a.m. arrival time. “They have great floats and the weather is perfect. And Lifehouse is here,” she said, referring to her favorite rock band.
Another group opted for more personal space and set up directors’ chairs 100 yards from the parade and the packed crowds. Sisters-in-law Suzanne and Melanie Ramsayer, both 35, have attended the parade for eight years and prefer watching the sky for the floats, even if it means missing some of the marching bands.
“We have a slightly different model. We get our coffee first, and we can check on the turkey and all the cooking,” Suzanne Ramsayer, who lives on West 72nd Street, said. “It’s a perfect view,” she said, cheering as the Ronald McDonald float passed by.
Despite the strike on Broadway that has shut down all but eight shows, actors from “Mary Poppins,” “Xanadu,” “Young Frankenstein,” and “Legally Blonde” performed numbers from their musicals.
The actors from “Legally Blonde” did not have their costumes or props, which were locked in the theater because of the contract dispute between the stagehands’ union and the League of American Theaters and Producers. The active shows have a separate contract, and are not affected by the strike.
The parade, which stretched between 77th and 34th streets and wound down Central Park West to Broadway, featured 11 giant character balloons, 24 floats, and 10,000 participants. Balloons new to the parade this year were William Steig’s green ogre Shrek, a new “Sesame Street” muppet, Abby Cadabby, and a Japanese cartoon character, Super Cute of “Hello Kitty.”