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It’s an annual Thanksgiving Day tradition: millions of spectators crowd long city blocks, suspended over barricades and balconies or pressed against the windows of towering office buildings to watch giant balloons, depicting cartoon characters like Pikachu, hovering a few feet above the street.
But this year, as with everything in 2020, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, a ritual marker of the holiday, was radically different.
Due to the coronavirus threat, much of the parade in Manhattan has been downsized and pre-recorded for television broadcast. The route was reduced from two miles to a single block on 34th Street near the flagship department store.
There were no high school groups. Instead of the usual 2,000 balloon handlers, there were only around 130.
Warnings from officials to stay home due to the pandemic have allowed millions to stay indoors this year and police barricades have been put in place to ensure no one gets too close near.
Still, some spectators were curious and showed up anyway.
On 34th Street and 5th Avenue, Karin Schlosser, 52, stood behind one of the barricades to take pictures of the floats and balloons. This year’s balloons featured the Boss Baby and Red Titan characters from “Ryan’s World”.
“I felt like it was a great adventure to come here and see what I could see – and I actually saw a lot more than I expected,” Ms. Schlosser said, who is from California but lives in New York City for a month while working from home. “It’s so amazing.”
“I think people still really need a sense of normalcy,” she added. “Everyone I have spoken to is very aware of the pandemic. They want to be safe. They wear masks, but they still want to get in touch with other people. “
Dozens of people gathered in the same area shortly after 9 a.m. to take pictures with their cell phones. A man with a woman took a selfie with Christmas floats in the background. Absent from the photo, the usual crowd of thousands.
Across the street, a building has remained closed since the time the owners braced for unrest after the election results. Police barricades kept the public at least two blocks from the assembly area. The streets beyond the parade route remained largely empty.
Henry Danner of the Bronx recalled going to the parade with his family as a child and seeing his cousins perform in marching bands. This year Mr Danner, 34, a freelance photographer and journalism student at Columbia University, said he was very interested in witnessing and documenting what it was like to attend a parade during a pandemic.
“The Thanksgiving Parade is a staple in New York history,” Mr. Danner said. “I came to see what story I could capture. I knew New York was going to be New York and keep coming out.
But a lot of things about the annual event were different, he said. “The energy is very dark. It’s generally optimistic.
Kaitlin Lawrence, 31, and Zeev Kirsh, 40, tried to inject the event with a bit of levity when they decided to attend the parade in turkey costumes. Ms. Lawrence, merged her two favorite holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas. She dressed as a turkey-Santa.
“We’re die-hard New Yorkers and we want to keep the magic alive,” Ms. Lawrence said.
The couple said they first met before the pandemic and then met again while cheering on staff at NYU Langone Health Hospital. Their love blossomed during their forties, they said.
Ms Lawrence, an actress, recently became a drama teacher after her acting jobs disappeared months ago. “Doing little things like this really kept us going,” she says.
At the corner of 36th Street and Sixth Avenue, a crowd gathered and cheered as managers prepared to lift the Boss Baby ball off the ground. A driver counted to three and then used a hand whistle to guide handlers along the block. A woman on a FaceTime call pointed the phone in the direction of the balloons.
Carolina Capitanio, 37, had traveled from Miami to New York for the holidays with her husband and their two young daughters. Ms Capitanio said she wanted her children to “see something, but it’s not easy”. Her daughters looked through a row of metal barricades, trying to see the balloons in the street.
Others have had similar difficulties.
“I saw half of a ball,” said Jovan Williams, 43. “If I had stayed at home, I would have seen more of the parade. I couldn’t even tell it had started.
In a normal year, the handlers march to the rhythm of marching bands and the sound of a roaring crowd.
“That energy was lacking,” said Susan Tercero, executive producer of the Macy’s show.
But Ms Tercero said she still hopes viewers enjoy this year’s production.
“This parade means a lot to a lot of people and to New Yorkers,” Ms. Tercero said. “In a difficult year, it feels good to be able to offer a little happiness on Thanksgiving.”
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