Thanksgiving Parade Preview: Viewing Tips, Route Map and ‘Vapor Wake’ Dogs

Photo by Ted.

As many as 1 million people are expected to show up on the route for this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which stretches from 77th and Central Park West to Macy’s on 34th. Among the new balloons this year: Olaf from Frozen!

You have to wake up very early to grab a good spot to see the Thanksgiving Parade on Central Park West. You can also also get a good view on some of the side streets between 77th and 59th off of Central Park West, though you’ll only see each balloon for a brief moment.

The Mommy Poppins blog also has this tip: “The east side of Central Park West is not open for viewing. However, if you enter Central Park north of 86th Street and meander south you can catch a peek from a hill or playground.”

Expect more security at this year’s Thanksgiving Parade, which starts from 9 a.m. and ends at noon.

“De Blasio and the NYPD’s top brass, speaking at a news conference in Queens, said the city will deploy aviation units, heavy weapons teams, rooftop surveillance teams and K-9 units and use sand trucks to stop possible vehicle attacks,” Newsday reported.

Also in attendance: vapor wake dogs. These specially trained dogs apparently can sniff out trouble from far away, according to Wired.

“For the last decade or so, Auburn has honed a process to breed and train labs that can detect faint whiffs of explosive particles in the thermal heat plumes humans create as they walk. Combining genetics with rigorous training, the dogs learn to identify different levels of explosive odor, so they can tell the difference between, say, a concealed firearm and multiple pounds of explosives. That level of discernment matters, especially in a situation like the Thanksgiving parade, where the Vapor Wake dogs will need to ignore the weapons law enforcement will be carrying.”

There will apparently be 14 such dogs at the parade this year, up from nine last year.