Macy’s 2019 Thanksgiving Day Parade Mishap

The Thanksgiving Day Parade held in New York City is a truly spectacular event that my family and I attend yearly. I personally recommend anyone to go to it for their Thanksgiving morning as some of the floats are truly remarkable to see. All this said the parade has had its mishaps since its start in 1924. This year was one of those years in which a mishap occurred. In the weeks leading up to the event, the NYPD was expressing concern about not letting the floats fly since high winds could pose a threat to everyone’s safety. This occurrence was not something irregular as whether or not the floats should fly seems to come to question every year, but their concerns are rightfully justified, as exemplified through the mid belly flop nutcracker exhibited above. This floating nutcracker has gained loads of attention through social media, and a video of it even knocking down a marcher trying to help keep it upright went viral. Fortunately, the marcher was alright and able to stand to continue marching, but this hasn’t always been the result. Perhaps the most well-known parade mishap occurred in 1997, when the Cat in the Hat Balloon, due to high winds and ill-equipped individuals controlling it, struck a light post causing the top end of it to detach from its body. The top of the light post then fell directly on a woman’s head. The result was a 3-week coma, and very near encounter with death. A multi-million dollar lawsuit additionally ensued. With this said, it can still be a wonder to many about how this problem of losing control of floats isn’t obsolete, especially considering hundreds of millions of dollars through lawsuit attempted to scold parade organizers to prevent a loss of control. Regardless, the famous Thanksgiving Day Parade can actually be more of a danger than people think, but this I say in a light-hearted way since the odds are in the favor of anyone attending.