How to give thanks for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Get pumped! The national celebration of balloons known as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is tomorrow, and Metro’s got all the intel you’ll need to get your fill.

This year, the two-mile extravaganza will begin at 77th Street and Central Park West and make its way south via Seventh and Sixth avenues, finally ending at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue in Herald Square.

The parade will feature staples like Buzz Lightyear and the Pillsbury Doughboy, but you’ll also spot a few newcomers — like Paul Frank’s Julius (the sock monkey).

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Seventh Avenue spectacle that began in 1924. The parade begins at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day and lasts three hours. Mary J. Blige, Neil Diamond, Avril Lavigne and the cast and muppets from Sesame Street will march this year.

Spectators hoping for a sneak peek of the inflatables can watch them get blown up beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the Upper West Side by the American Museum of Natural History. The helium insertion process lasts approximately seven hours.

Where to watch
   
Central Park West between 77th and 59th
Central Park South between Eighth and Seventh avenues
Seventh Avenue between 59th and 48th streets
Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 34th streets