City officials have decided to move the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to Sixth Avenue to avoid having to go through Times Square, according to articles today in the New York Daily News and the New York Post.
"Starting in 2012, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will skip Seventh Avenue and run down Sixth Avenue from Central Park South," according to an article by Jeremy Olshan in the New York Post, adding that "this November will be the last time the parade runs through Times Square."
The decision to change the parade route drew "furious protest from Times Square business leaders," according to the New York Daily News article by Barry Paddock and Adam Lisberg.
"Why would Macy's want to have a parade go down lifeless and empty Sixth Avenue rather than through Times Square?" Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, told the Daily News, adding that his "members are dazed and confused by this decision."
The article said that the city maintained that putting the parade through Times Square "would no longer be feasible after this year," quoting City Hall spokesman Jason Post that "they're making changes to Times Square that will prevent the parade from being held there." The changes include the installation of curbs around the new pedestrian plaza in Times Square.
The hotels in Times Square say they are unable to book lucrative reservations for rooms that have a view of the parade until they know where it will take place, and they have argued that "the city could diminish the economic impact of the parade if it's moved to Sixth Avenue because there are fewer hotel rooms, 3,097 to be precise, along Sixth Avenue, compared with 7,244 in Times Square."
The Times Square Advertising Coalition is also concerned about losing media exposure for its signs.
"Starting in 2012, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will skip Seventh Avenue and run down Sixth Avenue from Central Park South," according to an article by Jeremy Olshan in the New York Post, adding that "this November will be the last time the parade runs through Times Square."
The decision to change the parade route drew "furious protest from Times Square business leaders," according to the New York Daily News article by Barry Paddock and Adam Lisberg.
"Why would Macy's want to have a parade go down lifeless and empty Sixth Avenue rather than through Times Square?" Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, told the Daily News, adding that his "members are dazed and confused by this decision."
The article said that the city maintained that putting the parade through Times Square "would no longer be feasible after this year," quoting City Hall spokesman Jason Post that "they're making changes to Times Square that will prevent the parade from being held there." The changes include the installation of curbs around the new pedestrian plaza in Times Square.
The hotels in Times Square say they are unable to book lucrative reservations for rooms that have a view of the parade until they know where it will take place, and they have argued that "the city could diminish the economic impact of the parade if it's moved to Sixth Avenue because there are fewer hotel rooms, 3,097 to be precise, along Sixth Avenue, compared with 7,244 in Times Square."
The Times Square Advertising Coalition is also concerned about losing media exposure for its signs.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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