Giant Nutcracker balloon at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade goes out of control, knocks a woman to the ground
An out of control Nutcracker balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade smacked a parade worker on her behind and sent her greeting the road. Yet, it could not dampen her holiday spirits as she got back up and tried to help.
The 45-foot tall inflatable doll decided to party on Central Park West near 74th Street and was seen swaying and falling to the ground as a bunch of parade walkers tried to get it back up and flying. The parade walker who came to help, rushed in towards the balloon and it slapped her to the ground. However, she immediately got back up as the rest of the crew also tried to rein in the giant balloon and managed to get it floating in a while.
Officials had been skeptical about allowing the use of giant character balloons (crucial to the Macy's Thanksgiving parade) due to the winds but ultimately decided to let them fly. NYPD Midtown North had earlier tweeted, "As of now the balloons will fly!", his announcement met with cheers from netizens, "Let’s hope the wind stays calm at the #macysthanksgivingdayparade,” Midtown North tweeted.
The parade featured 16 balloons and had characters like Pikachu, Snoopy, Chase the Police Dog from Paw Patrol among others.
The city does not allow the balloons to be flown if gusts exceed 34 mph and the winds cross the 23 mph mark. The regulations came into effect in 1997 after one of the balloons, that of a Cat in a Hat, hit a lamp post in Central Park West and resulted in four injuries. One of the people injured was left in a coma and had to spend three weeks in the hospital. Then, in 2005, another character balloon hit two people.