NEW YORK _ Revelers cheered Astronaut Snoopy, Smokey Bear and the rest of the gang during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday after fears earlier this week that strong winds would keep the beloved balloons grounded.
It's "a tradition we all grew up with," said Joe Ziegler, who traveled from Miami. "I grew up watching it on TV so seeing it for real is wonderful."
With high winds forecast for Thursday, the decision on whether to let the colossal balloons float came down to the last minute.
About an hour before the 9 a.m. start of the parade, the New York Police Department gave the green light for Snoopy, SpongeBob SquarePants and 14 others to begin the route at West 77th Street and Central Park West.
"Hey Astronaut Snoopy, we are clear for take-off!" the NYPD cheerfully tweeted.
Still, teams handling the balloons struggled to keep them under control amid strong winds at the staging area near the American Museum of Natural History. At 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, a deflated Ronald McDonald balloon was taken off the route with a rip on its left leg.
They decided discretion was the better part of valor, keeping the colossal creations close to the ground. A Red Power Ranger was observed nearly touching the street.
"The floats were nice, but some of the balloons weren't really blown up fully. They were kindly of wrinkly around the legs," said Milini Thomas of Vancouver.
The city bars the balloons from floating during sustained winds of 23 mph or if gusts reach 34 mph or greater.
"I have lived here my whole life and I never came down to the parade before," said Gisell Lopez, 28, who trekked to the Manhattan parade route from the Bronx. "Usually I'm helping my mom with Thanksgiving dinner, but this year I just had to see them up close and personal."
Meteorologists had warned of possibly prohibitive conditions in recent days, with paradegoers fearing the balloons would be grounded for the second time in a century.
Had the NYPD denied permission to fly the balloons, they would have been deflated and put in storage, a parade staffer told the New York Daily News.
Virginia Coates came to the parade with her two teenage children from Downingtown, Pa.
"This year I got divorced and I got my kids for Thanksgiving, so I'm celebrating by going to New York for the Thanksgiving Parade," she said.
"I lived in New York City for many years," Coates added. "I loved going to the parade, but now I miss it. I wanted my kids to see it too."
