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Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade: Phew! Giant Balloons Fly Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade: Phew! Giant Balloons Fly — Just Not Very High
(about 2 hours later)
Fear no longer, parade enthusiasts. Astronaut Snoopy, SpongeBob SquarePants and Smokey Bear were given the all clear by the New York Police Department early Thursday morning and are flying above the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as planned. A forecast of gusting winds threatened to ground the big balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade but they flew as planned on Thursday morning — in a manner of speaking.
But the windy conditions did keep some of the balloons pretty low to the ground at points, with the handlers fighting the wind to keep the inflatables under control. Instead of soaring balloons, handlers kept them just feet from the ground, battling with buffeting winds at each intersection.
At points, the gusts tipped the balloons toward the packed bleachers on Central Park West, sending up shrieks from the crowd as Ronald McDonald or a Power Ranger lurched above, then cheers as soon as they were upright again.
Forecasts of rough weather had cast a cloud over the parade this week, with some worried that the enormous character balloons could be grounded, for only the second time since they became fixtures in the beloved holiday parade nearly a century ago. “This is stressful!” a police officer stationed in front of Trump International Hotel at 61st Street said as Jett, an airplane character from the “Super Wings” cartoon, nose-dived into the pavement before being rescued by handlers hauling on its strings.
But this year, it looks like it will be Giant Inflatable Characters 1; Mother Nature, 0. Forecasts of rough weather had cast a cloud over the parade this week, with some worried that the enormous character balloons could be grounded for only the second time since they became fixtures in the beloved holiday parade nearly a century ago.
The New York Police Department announced the decision on Twitter a little after 8 a.m. on Thursday. But just before the parade’s 9 a.m. start, Astronaut Snoopy and his posse were given the all clear by the New York Police Department to float on down the parade route.
As usual, the sky-high character balloons were already inflated and ready to go on Wednesday night, in the hopes that the weather would allow the parade to proceed as normal. They certainly tried.
New York has a strict and specific set of balloon-flight regulations that have been in place since 1997, when a windswept inflatable Cat in the Hat ran into a lamppost, leading to injuries to several people, including one woman who was in a coma for nearly a month. A hunk of ham and green eggs hovered just feet above its 90 handlers, who gamely paraded the new balloon on its inaugural flight even as it bopped some of their heads.
Maneuvering a massive helium-filled balloon down the two-mile parade route can be a challenge even in the best of conditions. The biggest of the balloons measures 50 to 60 feet tall and can be just as long. And the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger — at 77 feet long, the lengthiest balloon in the parade — grazed his knee on Central Park West, not so much flying as sliding down the parade route. A woman attempted to single-handedly prevent the knuckles of his right hand from dragging on the ground.
The 16 giant balloons, which this year was to include a bare-chested Smokey Bear, Chase from “Paw Patrol” and a bright orange polka-dot sunburst by the artist Yayoi Kusama, also weigh hundreds of pounds. They require dozens of trained handlers to guide them through streets lined with gawking spectators and hulking buildings. Even as the crowd cheered the handlers for their valor, the specter of dangerous mishaps dogged the parade.
New York has a strict and specific set of balloon-flight regulations that have been in place since 1997, when a windswept inflatable Cat in the Hat ran into a lamppost, injuring several people, including one woman who was in a coma for nearly a month.
On Thursday, with the parade still underway, the only injury seemed to be to Ronald McDonald. Halfway down the route, which stretches from West 77th Street to Herald Square, his left leg fluttered deflated, his shoe in ribbons. Still he soldiered on.
According to city regulations, the balloons cannot fly if there are sustained winds above 23 miles per hour or if gusts exceed 34 miles per hour.According to city regulations, the balloons cannot fly if there are sustained winds above 23 miles per hour or if gusts exceed 34 miles per hour.
Rodney Harrison, the Police Department’s chief of patrol, said on Wednesday that a police sergeant assigned to each giant balloon would be checking seven wind-detection machines, known as anemometers, as the balloons proceeded down the route from West 77th Street and Central Park West to the grandstand at Herald Square. As a precaution, a police sergeant was assigned to each of the 16 giant balloons, according to Rodney Harrison, the Police Department’s chief of patrol. Officers were checking seven wind-detection machines, known as anemometers, as the balloons proceeded down the route from West 77th Street and Central Park West to the grandstand at Herald Square.
The police were empowered to lower the balloons to deal with gusts, or take them off the route and deflate them if necessary. The police officers handling the balloons were empowered to lower them to deal with gusts, or take them off the route and deflate them if necessary.
“At the end of the day, public safety is paramount,” Chief Harrison said.“At the end of the day, public safety is paramount,” Chief Harrison said.
In 1997, balloon handlers were grappling with winds that reached speeds in excess of 40 m.p.h., when the gusts pushed the six-story Cat in the Hat balloon into a lamppost. The Chrysler Building took his own precautions: a buddy system. A towering stilt-walker, Plu Sayampol, wearing the iconic top of the Chrysler Building on his head, gripped the hand of a friend tightly as he strode down the parade.
Was the wind intimidating? Mr. Sayampol said he’d never once been blown off his stilts.
He paused, and added: “Oh no. Now where is some wood for me to knock on?”
In 1997, balloon handlers were grappling with winds that reached speeds in excess of 40 m.p.h., when the gusts pushed the six-story Cat in the Hat balloon into the lamppost.
One part of the lamppost broke off and fell onto parade spectators, injuring four people, including a 33-year-old woman who suffered a serious head injury.One part of the lamppost broke off and fell onto parade spectators, injuring four people, including a 33-year-old woman who suffered a serious head injury.
In 2005, there was a lesser episode: A giant M&M balloon smacked into a light pole in Times Square and pulled off a fixture that crashed to the ground, injuring two spectators. Since then, police and parade organizers have vowed to not have another accident.In 2005, there was a lesser episode: A giant M&M balloon smacked into a light pole in Times Square and pulled off a fixture that crashed to the ground, injuring two spectators. Since then, police and parade organizers have vowed to not have another accident.
Thousands of spectators were already gathered along the parade route when the game-day decision was made by the police Thursday morning. In addition to the giant balloons, parade watchers will be treated to the sights and sounds of 40 smaller inflatable figures, themed floats and Broadway performers. Musicians and marching bands from across the country will also serenade the assembled crowds. The sole time that balloons did not fly because of weather since they were introduced was a wet and windy Thanksgiving in 1971. (They did not fly between 1942 and 1944 during World War II because helium and rubber were diverted to the war effort.)
In 1971, a cold, wet and windy Thanksgiving kept the giant balloons grounded. Even so, The Times reported then, tens of thousands of children watching seemed delighted that the rest of the show had gone on. Even so, The Times reported then, tens of thousands of children watching seemed delighted that the rest of the show had gone on.
“I like it, I like it,” a little boy named Dion Reynolds said as a friendly crocodile slithered by on Central Park West back then. Or, as K. Wade Bennett, then president of Macy’s had put it, as the last float of Macy’s 45th Annual Thanksgiving Parade pulled into Herald Square, “Well, we made it.” Michael Gold and Sharon Otterman contributed reporting.
Sarah Maslin Nir contributed reporting.