Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2017 Route, Start Time
Thanksgiving Day is just a couple of days away, and that means it's time to plan ahead for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Whether it's to watch the balloons up close or to stay well away from the resulting gridlock, it pays to know the route beforehand.
It's the 91st parade since Macy's started the annual tradition, and like the annual Thanksgiving staple the parade has become, Macy's is not changing the route all that much.
The parade starts on the 77th street and Central Park West at 9 a.m. local time, and it's just a short three-hour event that ends at about noon, according to NYC Tourist. It's the start of a two-and-a-half mile route that makes its way to 59th street and 8th avenue, where it turns the corner to follow Central Park.
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The parade turns the corner again just across the Museum of Modern Art, as it starts to head down 6th Avenue until it hits 34th Street and Broadway. The parade ends when it reaches the front of Macy's Herald Square.
It's a day off from work, and every year, about 3.5 million people turn out to watch. People should expect horrendous traffic along the streets adjacent to the route.
Things start off as early as the night before the parade, when the balloons are just being inflated across the American Museum of Natural History, as Curbed points out. Even as early as the night of Nov. 22, streets were already closed off to accommodate people going to see the balloons as they are being blown up.
Drivers can expect many of the streets around the Museum to be closed for the balloon inflation, including thoroughfares from Central Park West to Columbus Avenue, between the 77th and 81st streets. While the Department of Transportation has yet to release an official notice, it's best to plan ahead for an alternate route as early as now.
