Giant balloons fly, just not high
NEW YORK» A forecast of gusting winds threatened to ground the big balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade but they flew as planned Thursday morning — in a manner of speaking.
Instead of soaring balloons, handlers kept them just feet from the ground, battling with buffeting winds at each intersection.
At points, the gusts tipped the balloons toward the packed bleachers on Central Park West, sending up shrieks from the crowd, then cheers as soon as they were upright again.
“This is stressful!” a police officer stationed in front of Trump International Hotel said as Jett, an airplane character from the “Super Wings” cartoon, nose-dived into the pavement before being rescued by handlers hauling on its strings.
Forecasts of rough weather had cast a cloud over the parade this week, with some worried that the enormous character balloons could be grounded.
But just before the parade’s 9 a.m. start, Astronaut Snoopy and his posse were given the all-clear by the New York City Police Department to float on down the parade route.
They certainly tried.
A hunk of ham and green eggs hovered just feet above its 90 handlers, who paraded the new balloon on its inaugural flight even as it bopped some of their heads.
New York has a strict and specific set of balloon-flight regulations that have been in place since 1997, when a windswept inflatable Cat in the Hat ran into a lamppost, injuring several people, including one woman who was in a coma for nearly a month.
“The balloons are the best part of the parade! They’re so big!” said Ava Ortlieb, a 9year-old visiting from Long Island, N.Y.
On Thursday, with the parade still underway, the only injury seemed to be to Ronald McDonald.
Halfway down the route, his left leg fluttered deflated, his shoe in ribbons. Still he soldiered on.
According to city regulations, the balloons cannot fly if there are sustained winds above 23 mph or if gusts exceed 34 mph.
The sole time that balloons did not fly because of weather since they were introduced was a wet and windy Thanksgiving in 1971. (They did not fly between 1942 and 1944 during World War II because helium and rubber were diverted to the war effort.)