Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade draws spectators and protests

Across Central Park West, crowds gathered Thursday for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, gathering on street corners or sitting on folding chairs that had been set up since dawn. They clung to stretches of sidewalk, and some placed their toddlers on food carts for a better view.

Madison Burgess, 26, was a little over it.

“You don’t realize how slow the cadence is in real life,” she said as she left the parade route. For almost three hours, Ms. Burgess added, she had been looking at balloons with animated characters Bluey, Goku and Monkey D. Luffy. She had only seen the event on television and as a TV production coordinator she realized how she preferred the spectacle. “Edited,” she said.

The parade, a tradition dating back nearly a century, provided the usual festive cheer but also provided a platform for demonstrators who spent the day trying to draw attention to various issues, including climate change and the war between Israel and Hamas. Some tried to cling to the parade route, others swarmed around the floats parked at the far end, waving Palestinian flags and singing.

“Thanksgiving is a time when we actually celebrate all the rights and freedoms that we have,” said Mun Chong, spokeswoman for Seven Circles Alliance, a consortium of activist groups that had representatives at the event. Ms Chong said a call to protest on behalf of Palestinians had been circulating on social media beforehand. “It is important to recognize people abroad who do not have the same freedom.”

New York City police confirmed that protesters were detained during the parade, but could not say how many.

On Thursday, the 31 floats included newcomers like “Camp Snoopy” (a Peanuts campsite on wheels), the “Good Burger Mobile” (a convertible with a sesame bun for a hood) and “Mutant Mayhem” (a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle street scene). Together with 25 giant helium-filled balloons and six bicycle-controlled balloons (dubbed ‘Balloonicles’ by Macy’s), they descended through the avenues.

They swayed and soared to the beats of 11 marching bands, including Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, a historically black school, which led the parade in its debut performance.

At one point, on Sixth Avenue, between 44th and 45th Streets, activists jumped over barricades and tried to glue themselves to the sidewalk in front of Sinclair Oil’s house. Dino the dinosaur balloons. Dressed in white jumpsuits, the Seven Circles Alliance protesters poured fake blood on themselves and briefly stopped the parade.

At Seventh Avenue and 41st Street, near the parade route, a group of demonstrators waving Palestinian flags poured into the streets next to the Jennie-O.Great Turkey spectacular” rapid.

In addition to the “Harvest in the valley‘Vegetables floated parked near West 42nd Street, Victor Rodriguez literally and figuratively overshadowed by the two-story-tall Green Giant on top: Mr. Rodriguez, 48, works as Elmo in Times Square and makes money taking photos with tourists. While all the cartoon characters floated in the air, the earthly Elmo – and the Mickeys, Minnies, Marios and Luigis that are his colleagues – were overlooked.

“When the parade is over, people come with children,” he said. “When it’s done, they look for photos.”

Philipp Strauch brought along Ruby, a friend’s dog whom he looked after during the holidays. The dog rode in a bag. “We didn’t want her to miss it,” said Mr. Strauch, 29, an accountant from Germany. This, his first Thanksgiving parade, was reminiscent of a traditional German winter festival, he said. It is celebrated with floats, but also with beer mugs. Mr Strauch said he felt his fellow countrymen were more enthusiastic parade watchers.

“They are also more drunk, let’s be honest,” interjected his nearby colleague and fellow German Peter Traut, 34.

The parade – Thursday was the 97th edition – radiated a sense of healthy normality, but could not completely keep the outside world at bay. At some intersections, parade-goers wearing turkey-shaped hats mingled with sign-bearers condemning Israel.

At Columbus Circle, Serge St. Fleur, a police officer, watched over Santa’s arrival. The appearance provoked shouts of admiration. It was his first time on parade duty, he said, when Rudolph and Mrs. Claus turned east on 59th Street. Officer St. Fleur enjoyed the tour to some extent. “The best assignment is at home,” he said. “But this is good.”

James Ashby, 78, was wedged next to a halal cart loaded with children trying to see above the heads of adults on West 41st Street, near Sixth Avenue. He didn’t want to be anywhere else – even if the view from his wheelchair was somewhat obstructed.

A lifelong New Yorker from Riverdale in the Bronx, he had never been to the parade in person. This year, his two daughters, Stacey, 44, and Danielle, 40, made sure he made it. “It’s been on my bucket list forever,” he says. Stacey pulled a neighborhood reporter aside to reveal that her father had stage 4 cancer.

Mr Ashby took the parade, his children and Lion the lizard sliding between the buildings. He smiled broadly. “I have a short life,” he said, referring to the little time he has left with his prognosis. “This is amazing.”

Steven Kenny contributed reporting.