Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons, which include giant likenesses of Snoopy, Super Grover and Garfield, may fly lower over the streets of New York this year to reduce the chance of wind-related accidents.
Winds may reach 20 mph today, just shy of the 23 mph threshold at which parade organizers and the New York Police Department have agreed to pull the cartoon characters out of the parade, according to Macy’s spokeswoman Elina Kazan. A lower altitude allows the dozens of handlers of each balloon better control, she said.
“If, unfortunately, the winds were to get high enough that we thought it was unsafe to have the balloons at all, we would pull them off the side streets and deflate them,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday. “While we all want to see the big balloons, we certainly don’t want anybody to get hurt.”
Greater scrutiny has been placed on the balloons and route after Mars Inc.’s M&M’s candies balloon snagged a lamppost last year, injuring two people. Each character is now accompanied by an escort reading wind speed from a portable meter, and a police officer trained to handle balloon-related safety concerns.
About 3.5 million spectators were expected to stake out spots for the 80th annual march in Manhattan.
Balloon handlers will keep an eye on seven new wind meters measuring gusts, Kazan said.
“The higher the winds, the lower the balloons,” she said.
The familiar faces, including a 63-foot-long Big Bird and a 62-foot SpongeBob Square Pants, will be grounded if winds top 23 mph, Kazan said.
