I don't how they look live but watching them on TV they look better low than high.
They can kill two birds with a stone, ie better look for TV people plus greater safety.
3
Was excited to watch the parade after decades of missing it...but quickly realized what a disappointment it was...NBC turned it into one big commercial. I won’t be missing anything in the decades to come after all.
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Why is The Times shying away from estimating the attendance and debunking all of the phony estimates? Most media outlets continue to report the idiotic figure that 3 million-plus people attend the Macy's Parade each year, when in fact there are probably fewer than 150,000 people along the route. To have 3 million people along the 3-mile route would require people to be packed in like sardines, shoulder to shoulder, front to back, 200 rows deep, on both sides of the entire route. The arithmetic is simple. So, why does all of the media continue giving us phony numbers for all sorts of similar public events, like New Year's Eve in Times Square and the Rose Parade?
6
Was it really necessary to name the hotel in front of which the stressed police officer commented? Can't we have five minutes without hearing that name?
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Ronald actually didn't make it the whole way. He turned right into 42nd Street at Bryant park and was deflated. My kids cheered!
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Oh, there was a parade? Every time I turned on NBC I saw only lame lip syncing to horrible so called Broadway musicals.
One big commercial for Macy’s and these terrible cover band concerts masquerading as Broadway plays.
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@Steve I was in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in 1994. Yes people lip sync, but they do it for logistics reasons. It would be impossible to mike and have sound personnel for EVERY single float. There is a central sound system at one place where we all perform. As far as it being a “cover band” - I lip synced to my own track (which my float colleagues on the float also recorded two weeks prior in a studio) that included my operatically produced coloratura ending in a high E above high C. the track was an original holiday song composed for the parade. My float colleagues were legitimate Broadway performers. None of us were faking it to a cover band track. Currently I have several friends in Broadway shows that performed in the parade yesterday - also to their own vocal/instrumental tracks - and NOT cover bands. Finally, as a float participant the conditions are far from cushy. The year I performed (a typical year) it was 20 degrees outside and not heat on the float. We do this because we love to do it and get to share the joy and make people happy as the true entertainers we are, least you think this is something glamorous. Do a little research the next time you want to rain on someone’s parade. You may find that you will not need to write anything at all.
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Some live to take J out of other's joy.
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Shameful that Roku doesnt carry the parade and youtube cut off most people broadcasting it, its all about money these days, sick.
7
YouTube has a feed from Central Park West. No commercials no talk just a camera feed with sound.
8
I watched the parade this morning. I really enjoyed seeing the balloons down closer to the ground. You could see them so much better. I wish they would do them like that all the time.
11
One of the worst parades ever. The music was horrible, Al Roker was ridiculous and the commercialization of the floats annoying. Bah humbug!
10
The music is always horrible everywhere.
Some children's carousels have maintained their old, pleasant music.
No wonder so many Americans are either agitated or brain-dead: The stuff they have to listen to when in stores, or walking past some stores, or at the skating rink, or in their cars (or when cars drive past), or even in their own homes when neighbors play their sound systems -- awful.
To think that some people like that stuff.
2
Parade baloons may be among the few grounded principals these days!
8
Lying cozily in bed around 6 a.m., hearing the wind blowing really hard through the trees, I worried about the balloons which were supposed to come down Central Park West. Santiago, Hong Kong, and Beirut are burning, and I'm worrying about balloons. So far, we can still consider ourselves lucky.
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The parade is so wonderfully uplifting!
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Giving thanks for the NYT reporting and live broadcasts via Internet of the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade 2019, wind gusts and all. Great to see the floats, the handlers, hear the great bands, all wonderful. Next year, hope to get to NYC to see the balloons and share the joy, in person!
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The celebration of Thanksgiving in 1621 was a celebration of kindness of the American Indians knowing that the British colony was dying. The Indians decided to give thanks by letting them celebrate with them saving the colony from certain doom
if you had to pick from the old world who was more civilized to the American Indians, it was not the English they were brutal and savages themselves but some of them were not that terrible.
The Spaniards were more kinder they spared Native Indians in the New World. With the monks spreading Christianity to the indigenous Indians.
The French were the kindest and were not brutal as the English were they brought with them love and kindness.
American Indians got a bad deal from the old world the English ruled with an iron fist . But lessons to be learned from history always repeats itself .
But this day Thanksgiving we should all give thanks to our Lord for the harvest of this year and the blessings so enjoy this day and give thanks and blessings to our Lord over the dinner tonight and many more.
2
In return for christianity (?) the Spaniards tortured and killed the indigenous population who refused to convert and adopt the invaders' religion.
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@Rick Johnson
You need to read the history of the Spanish conquistadors!
11
Astronaut Snoopy is adorable. Deserves to launch!
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Here's a question Is it more important tp know where our traditions came from or to realize these traditions are being hollowed out by corporate America?
All by itself, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a commercial, yet CBS and NBC are both running commercials within the programming.
How can you not think this is alarming?
8
@Stephen George
Face it. The entire world is becoming commercialized. Virtually every large event has sold naming rights. And virtually every venue has done the same. Those attaching their names to such things must believe that it is a benefit to their company. Macy's opted to sponsor the parade many years ago, before it was even possible to broadcast it, and should be thanked for the community involvement. But, because nothing is done without the necessary funding, they have sold rights to broadcast the parade. And the broadcasters, to recover some of that cost, also sell commercials. So chill out and enjoy the parade, as advertising will be with us until the end of time. And, if you don't like the ads, go to the parade in person, where you can watch advertising contained in the balloons (Snoopy, Ronald McDonald, etc)
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@Stephen George
Considering that Macy's has sponsored the Thanksgiving parade for almost 100 years (since 1924), I think we should cut them some slack. Have you ever seen Miracle on 34th Street, the 72 year old classic movie starring Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood? The entire movie is set inside and around Macy's before, during, and after the Thanksgiving parade.
https://www.history.com/news/the-first-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade
35
"How can you not think this is alarming?"
Wow are you easily triggered.
In fact, entertainment has had corporate sponsors for decades. That's where the name "soap opera" comes from -- radio programs were sponsored by soap manufacturers. Do a web search for "Lux Radio Theatre".
And further back in time, plays were sponsored by monarchs. See Shakespeare's "Hamlet" for an example.
8
When the wind is up, we go low! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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