What it takes to make Snoopy and his friends soar in the Macy’s Parade

It has become Paul Schwartz’s job to help ensure the safety of millions of Thanksgiving parade spectators – as New York City’s “chief balloon officer.”

Mr. Schwartz, whose actual job is deputy commissioner of bridges, has earned the unofficial title among his colleagues as he leads a team of city transportation engineers who clear the floating behemoths in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for takeoff.

The engineers have compiled detailed calculations on how high each of this year’s 16 giant balloons – including the Pillsbury Doughboy and Kung Fu Panda’s Po – can safely go at different wind speeds. Over the course of several hours, they tested the latest balloons at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to avoid any problems. And on parade day, they spread out along the route with anemometers to monitor weather conditions in real time.

Mr. Schwartz, 43, and his crew are part of a massive behind-the-scenes operation by city and Macy’s officials to ensure the cumbersome giant balloons glide safely through the busy parade route in Manhattan. The parade, a tradition that has lasted nearly a century, marks the start of the holiday season for many, drawing crowds of visitors from around the world and generating millions of dollars for local businesses.

Two months before the parade begins, employees from half a dozen city agencies walk the parade route, making a list of hundreds of potential obstacles that could puncture or jam balloons. They then get to work cleaning up the streets, from turning off traffic lights and signs to removing light poles and bicycle racks.

The painstaking preparations were made after gusty winds caused chaos in the 1997 parade. A six-story Cat in the Hat balloon struck part of a lamppost at West 72nd Street and Central Park West, injuring four people.

Since then, city officials have worked with Macy’s to implement increased safety measures, including requiring the balloons, which are held by handlers on the ground, to also be anchored to vehicles.

Yet in 2005, sudden gusts of wind blew an M&M balloon out of control and hit a light pole in Times Square, injuring two people. Afterwards, city officials mandated anemometers (instruments that measure wind speed and direction) along the route.

This year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had to plan the installation of congestion charging toll equipment for after the parade. The equipment, which will be located on Central Park West, south of 61st Street, will have to be temporarily removed for the parade each year, an expense included in the MTA’s contract with the toll operator.

Orlando Veras, a spokesman for Macy’s, declined to discuss the cost of the parade, saying only that it was a “gift from the department store to the city and the nation.”

Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said the city’s efforts have been well rewarded. “The joy and smiles that Macy’s balloons evoke on Thanksgiving morning bring out the child in everyone who watches this parade – and I am no different,” he said.

The city’s guidelines generally require the giant balloons to be grounded if there are sustained winds of more than 37 miles per hour, or if gusts exceed 34 miles per hour. Although there is often last-minute tension about getting the balloons up, they almost always get their day. They were last on the ground in 1971.

When it is calm, the balloons are allowed to rise, with lines reaching up to 17.5 meters; the balloons themselves fly 10 to 15 feet above. But when the wind is strong, like in 2019, they are brought in.

Ayman Jacob, 60, a city transportation engineer who is part of Mr. Schwartz’s team, has become an expert at precisely calculating the impact of wind on giant balloons.

Each of these cartoonish balloons, depending on its shape and size, behaves differently when caught by the wind. One of the hardest to control is Ronald McDonald, who has body parts at different heights, Mr. Jacob said. Still, the balloon is a personal favorite, “as long as it behaves.”

On a chilly Saturday this month, the parade’s five newest giant balloons were inflated and tested in a parking lot at MetLife Stadium. City officials are not requiring testing for the parade’s smaller balloons, which are filled with less than 5,000 cubic feet of helium, because they pose less risk.

Orange cones were placed 60 feet apart to simulate how much space the balloons will have on city streets. Then teams of handlers made rounds with their loads in tow while the engineers ran behind them, checking their calculations and taking notes. “Last year I wore boots and that was a mistake,” Mr. Schwartz said in sneakers.

Snoopy, dressed as “Beagle Scout,” had a dangling leash that needed to be repaired. Kung Fu Panda’s Po’s paw deflated.

But in the end, Mr. Schwartz gave all the balloons a thumbs-up.

“I’ll take an example from Macy’s book,” he said. “Let’s have a parade.”