Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

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** UPDATE 11/27 ** UWS Photos: Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Balloons

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m in Minneapolis for Thanksgiving and various “Uncle Obligations” have impacted my ability to post. Apologies for not getting this up earlier, as I know many of you have been asking for it.

Surprisingly, the weather seems to be better here than in NYC. Still, despite the earlier showers, it appears as though most of the rain has already passed and it should be relatively decent weather for today’s annual Macy’s balloon inflation on the Upper West Side.

The event is open to the public from 3:00 – 10:00 pm and takes place in the space around the Museum Of Natural History, from 77th to 81st, between Columbus & Central Park West.

If the weather is decent, it’s going to be a mob scene — literally thousands of people descending on the neighborhood. Don’t expect to just be able to walk around the area freely — you need to enter at 79th & Columbus and follow the herd around the “balloon inflation loop” in a counterclockwise manner (see map above).

Avoid taking any sort of ground transportation to the area (i.e. taxi or bus) — street closures and a crush of humanity are going to turn the area 10 blocks north and south, and as far west as Broadway, into one gigantic gridlock zone. Definitely take the subway or walk.

If anyone gets some good pictures, please send them to alerts [at] myupperwest.com. If I get enough, I’ll post the best ones tomorrow.

I’ll have more info on tomorrow’s parade route later today — it starts at 77th & Central Park West. If anyone has specific tips, please e-mail me ASAP so I can include them.

If you’re going to the balloon inflation with kids, Mommy Poppins has a good quick primer.

Gothamist has a sneak peak at some of the balloons and floats.

ScienceFriday.com put together this video showing some of the behind-the-scenes action at the balloon workshop in New Jersey:

Filed under: Entertainment, Events, Kid Stuff, Landmark, Manhattan, New York City, News, NYC, Seniors, Things to do, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 5 Comments »
Tags: American Museum of Natural History, Balloon Inflation, Central Park West, Macy's Balloons, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, New York City, NYC, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Balloon, Thanksgiving Eve, Upper West Side, UWS