The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
might be taking a dramatic turn next year...down Sixth Avenue. For the first time in the parade's 84-year history, the city is considering redirecting it past Broadway and over to Sixth when it arrives at Columbus Circle. The mayor says that the Department of Transportation said a working group has been assembled to discuss the matter and it will be making recommendations soon.
Businesses throughout Time Square are not surprisingly unhappy with the possible move. Many say that the parade is the one of their biggest days of the year and the additional television exposure they get is invaluable. Some hotels along the parade's route say that they are booked up to a year in advance. A manager of the Millennium Broadway said, “It's kind of shocking that it might move. We would no longer be the desirable location.”
Proponents for both avenues claim that the other is too narrow for the parade's massive balloons. One of the reasons for the move away from Broadway is because there will be even less space due to the city's plan to convert portions of it to a pedestrian mall in May. There has also been extra concern about balloon safety with a relatively new Safety Protocol after potentially dangerous accidents had occurred.
