Detour forces 83rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to bypass Broadway

[Harry]

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade plays off-Broadway for the first time tomorrow, but its famous balloons and floats will still come out in all their glory.

 

The 83rd annual Thanksgiving Day Parade makes the detour to bypass the new pedestrian plazas in Times and Herald squares.

 

"Dramatic changes in the midtown landscape will divert us for the first time from the fabled Broadway route we have followed since our first parade in 1924," said Robin Hall, director of Macy's National Events.

 

"With the street fixtures, lighting and concrete barriers, you couldn't drive anything down those streets," Macy's spokesman Orlando Veras said.

 

The new route is slightly longer - 2.65 miles compared with 2.5 - and has more sharp turns.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/11/25/2009-11-25_a_detour_de_force_for_first_time_mighty_thanksgiving_day_parade_will_bypass_broa.html#ixzz0XsYhGfTd

[metsfan]

Hopefully i'll catch it in time this year, will be weird not watching it cross 7th ave...

 

- A

[lilbluefoxie]

i still dont know why they messed up the streets in times square in teh first place

[Grand Concourse]

Interesting, I didn't think that closing off Broadway for road traffic would mean they could no longer have the parade.

But I still like it now with Broadway closed. 6th and 7th avs are much better now with traffic going thru without dealing with Broadway. They never should've kept Broadway like it is when they created the grid structure.

[metsfan]

I was under the impression that the parade was the one thing that DID cross the new pedestrian areas, if i had known this was going to happen i sure would have raised a lot of noise about it. Lot of people watch from the buildings along broadway.

 

- A

[SubwayGuy]

Over/Under on balloons hitting lights tomorrow...what do you guys think...two?

 

Gonna be interesting seeing them make those right angle turns...

[RokuSix]

Aren't those sharp turns going to be disastrous? I can just imagine those huge balloons getting stuck on the sharp edges of buildings...

[metsfan]

I can see the turn onto 7th ave as problematic, that area is known for wind due it its proximity to the river, the park, and columbus circle, which is a large open area with tall buildings all around. I guess we shall see...

 

- A