NYC officials ramp up security for Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
NEW YORK -- Among the new additions to the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City are trucks filled with sand. The trucks are rolling in to protect an expected crowd of three million.
As the parade balloons begin to take shape so is the city’s security plan.
Metal barricades will line the nearly three mile long route, and canines will sniff for explosives as more than 3,000 uniformed officers watch the crowds.
One woman told CBS News she prefers the additional security.
“I think it’s appropriate,” she said.
Wednesday afternoon, 81 sand-filled sanitation trucks started blocking intersections to prevent a terrorist attack like the one in Nice, France last July. The radical Islamic terror group, ISIS, recently named the parade an “excellent target” in its online magazine.
Along with its network of security cameras, police have established limited pedestrian entrance points, and created a web of street closures around the parade’s final blocks.
“NYPD is more than ready to handle anything that is going on around us and to work with everyone to make sure it’s a safe and fun day for everyone who attends,” said NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Plain clothes officers will also be out here, monitoring the crowd using radiation detectors.
One additional security challenge this year, the president-elect’s high-rise residence is just a block from the parade route.