Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
starts W77th St. at Central Park West/ 9AM, FREE

NEWS FLASH: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will kick off at 9 a.m. ET Thursday, and leading up to that moment, there’s been a question about whether the 16 giant character balloons would be a part of the annual procession through Manhattan.
High winds have been blowing through New York City. The balloons cannot be flown when sustained winds exceed 23 mph and gusts exceed 34 mph, according to city regulations.
But Mayor Bill de Blasio seemed to put the question to rest.
“Good News, New York City: The winds are holding and the … balloons will FLY!” the mayor tweeted Thursday morning.

“As the story — however apocryphal it may be — goes, Macy’s employees asked the company to put on a parade in the mid-1920s. Many of them were first-generation immigrants who wanted to celebrate the place their families now called home, as well as the arrival of the holiday season. Jazz bands, employees in costume and even Santa Claus took part in a two-block procession that is now an annual tradition as synonymous with Thanksgiving as a turkey dinner.

This year is the 93rd Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which now covers far more blocks — it begins at 77th Street at Central Park West and ends on 34th Street in front of Macy’s.
At 9 a.m.; it will also be broadcast live on NBC.”

New Balloons for the 2019 Parade

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Weather permitting, here are some of the new balloons to watch for today:
Astronaut Snoopy
Green Eggs & Ham
Love flies Up To The Sky
Smokey Bear (he returns)
Spongebob Squarepants & Gary

Performers: Celine Dion, Black Eyed Peas, Natasha Bedingfield, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, Ciara, Debbie Gibson, the band Chicago, Idina Menzel, NCT 127, Chris Young, Tenille Townes, Chris Janson, TLC, Kelly Rowland, Ozuna, Lea Michele, Miss America 2019 Nia Franklin, the cast of “Sesame Street” and more.

Extras: Performances from Broadway casts (“Beetlejuice,” “Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations,” “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”) along with, of course, the Rockettes.

The rest of the day is turkey and football, so that’s all for today’s edition of NYCity123.com.

Come right back here tomorrow for our usual selection of carefully curated events.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!