Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade marches on despite protest and dreary weather in NYC
NEW YORK -- The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade officially kicked off the holiday season today in New York City.
A steady rain fell over the festivities, and pro-Palestinian demonstrators briefly disrupted the parade for a second year in a row.
The NYPD said approximately 25 people were arrested after sitting down on the parade route with Palestinian flags and a banner reading, "Don't Celebrate Genocide." They were taken into custody without incident, and charges are pending.
Despite the dreary weather, CBS News New York's Jenna DeAngelis reported it didn't get in the way of the magic.
"We're just excited. You feel it and forget about it, so we're happy to be here," said one person who traveled from Baltimore.
Linwood Burden came from Georgia to check this off his bucket list at 72 years old.
"I'm so excited about being here, the weather's no problem," she said. "Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be here, so this is an opportunity."
The annual holiday tradition stepped off at 8:30 a.m. from Central Park West, then marched down Sixth Avenue to Macy's flagship store at Herald Square.
It featured more than 5,000 volunteers, 34 fan favorite floats and 22 giant balloons, including some newcomers like Minnie Mouse and Marshall from "PAW Patrol." One new float celebrated the Bronx Zoo's 125th anniversary with a tiger, giraffe, zebra and gorilla.
There was also an appearance from the WNBA champion New York Liberty and, of course, the one and only Santa.
"Just being here with the people I love, celebrating Thanksgiving with all these people, and I have to thank the NYPD for keeping us safe today," said Nanuet resident Shane Cullen.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday there were no credible threats against the parade, but law enforcement agencies were prepared to keep people safe.
The city's new police commissioner spent time Thursday thanking the officers who were on duty.
"I started my career as an intelligence analyst at the NYPD and have incredible intelligence analysts working here," said Tisch, adding it was great to be there.
The parade has only been canceled three times -- from 1942 to 1944 during World War II. The giant balloon characters are not allowed to fly if sustained winds exceed 23 mph or gusts are over 35 mph, but winds stayed around 10 mph Thursday morning.
Now, it's time for the Sanitation Department to start cleaning up, using 32 hand brooms, 29 mechanical brooms, 23 backpack blowers and 23 collection trucks. Last year, they removed more than 65 tons of debris.
