Thanksgiving Day parade-goers take extra security in stride

Cheering crowds thronged Manhattan on Thursday for the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which stepped off just after 9 a.m. at 77th Street and Central Park West.

New York City expected record-breaking crowds at the parade, officials said, along with a record force of police officers to calm fears that terrorists would stage a Paris-like attack on the festivities.

The day before Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner William Bratton explained the extensive security measures in place for the 89th annual parade as the giant balloons were inflated above their heads.

Bratton said, "I think we'll have the largest number of officers we've ever had for this event -- over 2,500" -- along with thousands of officers patrolling the city at large.

Anti-terror cops -- some with assault rifles and bomb-sniffing dogs -- guarded the route, and more than 500 police officers were added this year to its anti-terror efforts from the recently formed Critical Response Command, a heavily armed unit that can rapidly respond to an attack.

"We have to stand our ground," de Blasio said. "And for God's sake, don't let the terrorists dictate the terms to us."

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade spectators took the heavy NYPD presence in stride despite limited access to the traditional curbside view of the iconic national parade that brought thousands to Manhattan on Thursday morning.

"Last time, we sat curbside," said Troy Tinney, 52, a former East Meadow resident who was visiting from Waco, Texas, with his wife and three children. "We don't have the access we had back in 2007, but we appreciate the security. We feel safe and secure. There is no other safe place right now than here in New York. I have complete faith in what is going on here."

As Long Islanders and other parade-goers poured into Manhattan via Penn Station, the police presence was immediately visible. State troopers were manning various entrances, and National Guard troops were posted at many corners around the station.

John Izuchukwu, 24, visiting from South Orange New Jersey, lauded the police for doing a great job.

"I feel very safe right now," he said. "In the wake of the Paris attacks, you do think about it. However, we're not going to let these terrorists change our way of life."

Uniformed and plainclothes cops were on hand to protect the anticipated 3.5 million onlookers as the Pillsbury Doughboy, SpongeBob SquarePants, Angry Birds and more than a dozen other balloons floated into midtown.

On 58th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues police blocked off the street with a police van and patrol car with two police officers -- a security measure that was repeated in other areas along the parade route.

Several feet behind the patrol car Diane Simon, 55, sat on a bar stool she brought from her apartment, saying. "This is a good place. I can sit back here and watch the balloons and hear the marching bands."

The event was marked by one notable police action: A 41-year-old tourist from Moscow was issued a summons at about 10:30 a.m. for flying a drone in the area of West 77th Street and Central Park West, NYPD officials said Thursday.

Ana Mariano, 50, of Coram, left her home at 6 a.m., driving into Queens rather than taking the train.

"There is a lot more police than the last time and we are not up front, but I feel blessed to be here with my sons," said Mariano, who found a seat in an elevated window alcove on a nearby building that gave her a view of Sixth Avenue and 58th Street.

Special ticket holders from various groups, such as the Ronald MacDonald House, had access on Central Park West. Other parade-goers stood on Seventh Avenue a block away, behind police barricades, patiently waiting to see the next balloon float by, still thrilled to catch glimpses of Thomas the Tank Engine, the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger and the diary-writing Wimpy Kid.

The parade began at West 77th Street, cut down 59th Street and then turned onto Sixth Avenue finally heading west on 34th Street to the parade's end point in Herald Square, around noon.

Started in 1924 as the Macy's Christmas Parade, the spectacle has become an annual New York tradition, except for several years during World War II.

With Tania Lopez, Valerie Bauman, Matthew Chayes and Emily Ngo