Inflation

This year is the 80th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a major American media event, with over 2.5 million attending and 44 million watching at home. The parade kicks off the holiday season; at the end of every parade, Santa is welcomed into Herald Square. The inflation process itself (the day before) has become a major event - viewing is open from afternoon through the night. I went last night for the first time and was really surprised at the size of the crowd. Thousands of people, especially families with children were there. The police had an area of several blocks completely cordoned off and were funneling and directing crowds. Traffic flow was controlled and I had to go around several city blocks to get to an entrance going in the proper direction. The balloons are lined up on both sides of the Museum of Natural History (77th and 81st Streets). The inflation team consists of volunteers from Macy's as well as students from Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, New Jersey, where the balloons and floats are designed and built. If you go, be forewarned. For those uninitiated to NYC crowds it can be a harrowing experience. Or fun, if you can go with the flow...