New York: New York’s traditional Thanksgiving Day parade got under way today with huge crowds lining city streets from Central Park to Herald Square amid tight security following recent terror attacks.
As thousands of people applauded marching bands, elaborate floats and enormous balloons — bearing the likenesses of SpongeBob SquarePants, Mickey Mouse, Angry Birds and other comic creatures — a huge contingent of thousands of police patrolled the four-kilometer parade route.
With the festive event coming just weeks after the October 31 truck attack on a bike path in New York that killed eight people — many of them foreign tourists — the city went all-out to ensure security Thursday.
Massive dump trucks were parked at intersections to prevent just such an incident, along with concrete barriers.
Police Chief Terence Monahan said aviation units, heavy weapons teams, canine units and observation teams would be deployed in extraordinary efforts to ensure security.
The truck attack came at the end of a month that began with another assault on people massed in a public place — the shooting that targeted thousands of concertgoers in Las Vegas, killing 58.
Paradegoers in New York seemed aware of that history but appeared in a festive mood under sunny but frigid skies, as Americans across the country — and those posted in distant lands — celebrated their annual day devoted to family gatherings and the giving of thanks.
While people in New York were shivering, families gathered in southern California were baking along with their turkeys, with temperatures set to soar past 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
On the other side of the country, at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida, President Donald Trump used video links to offer his, and the nation’s, thanks to troops in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Turkey and on the USS Monterey guided-missile cruiser, at sea with the Fifth Fleet.
Sitting at a desk before a large computer screen, Trump told the troops they were “very, very special people.”
Addressing those in Afghanistan, he said, “everyone is talking about the progress you’ve made,” and to those in Iraq, he said: “We’re really winning.”
He told them that at home, “we’re doing well” and “the economy is doing great.” And he promised they could look forward to “big, fat, beautiful tax cuts.”
The president also visited a Coast Guard station, where they had provided food to the troops.
Back in New York, Mayor Bill DeBlasio had promised in a televised news conference Monday that the police presence along the parade route would be “stronger than ever.”
He said intelligence agencies had detected no credible threats against the parade, or against the city generally.
“Come out and enjoy the day, but if you see something, say something,” he added.