The centennial of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade opened on Central Park West on Friday, October 23, inside a museum, more than a month before any balloon goes up. The New York Historical put a parade installation on its first floor, and the building stands where the route begins. The dates after that are already on the calendar. The part that most affects the blocks between 72nd and 86th Streets is still open: how the public will move through the neighborhood on inflation day. That walk was different in 2024 and 2025, and Macy's has not yet posted the 2026 version.
Why the 100th Edition Falls This Year
Macy's employees ran the first parade in 1924. The route started at 145th Street and ended at the 34th Street store entrance, with clowns, bands, nursery-rhyme floats and animals from the Central Park Zoo. Balloons replaced the zoo animals a few years later. The parade has run every year except 1942 through 1944, when helium and rubber went to the war effort. Count every year from 1924 through 2026, take out those three, and you get exactly 100. The wartime pause is why the centennial lands now and not in 2023.
The New York Historical's installation, Macy's 100th Thanksgiving Day Parade, is on the Leah & Michael Weisberg Monumental Treasures Wall on the first floor. It runs through January 17, 2027. The museum describes its link to the parade in neighborhood terms. The current route starts right outside its Central Park West entrance, and the balloons are inflated alongside the building on 77th Street. The display draws on depictions of the parade from the museum's own collections, along with Bruce Helander's Macy's Mickey Mouse, ca. 1934, and event materials from Amy Kule, the parade's longtime executive producer. Emily Pazar, assistant curator of decorative arts and material culture, curated it.
The installation stays up through Thanksgiving and well into January. You can see it on a quiet weekday in November before the corner fills up, or come back after the holiday to see the 1934 Mickey again.
Three Dates on Central Park West
These are the confirmed dates as of this week, from the city's 2026 event listings and the museum:
- October 23, 2026, through January 17, 2027. The centennial installation at The New York Historical.
- Wednesday, November 25, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Balloon inflation in the areas around the Museum of Natural History, entered at West 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue, per the city's balloon inflation listing.
- Thursday, November 26, 8:30 a.m. to noon. The parade itself, per the city's parade listing, which points readers elsewhere for route details.
The entry corner is the one access detail the city has published for 2026. Macy's own parade FAQ confirms that balloons will be prepared on Wednesday, November 25, and says public-access details will be posted later. That FAQ describes a 2.5-mile route ending at the Herald Square flagship. It does not name the 2026 starting corner. Last year the MTA put the step-off at 77th Street and Central Park West at 8:30 a.m. The New York Historical's own description puts the start outside its door, which is the same corner.
The Wednesday Walk Has Moved Before
Inflation day involves more planning than the parade, because the public follows a one-way route through residential blocks. West Side Rag published a guide in each of the last two years. Here is how they compare with what has been published for 2026 so far.
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026, as published so far | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viewing hours | 1 to 6 p.m. | 1 to 6 p.m. | 1 to 6 p.m. |
| Line opens | Noon | Noon | Not yet posted |
| Entry | W 72nd St and Columbus Ave | W 72nd St and Columbus Ave | W 72nd St and Columbus Ave |
| Exit | Any block, W 82nd to 86th Sts | W 81st St and Central Park West | Not yet posted |
| Ticket | Not stated | Free, no ticket | Not yet posted |
The exit is the row that changed, and it matters most to anyone living north of the museum. West Side Rag's 2025 guide described the full loop. Visitors cleared a secure checkpoint at 72nd and Columbus, walked up Central Park West to 77th Street, turned west, and went up Columbus to 81st. The balloons sat between 77th and 81st, from Columbus to Central Park West. Everyone left at 81st and Central Park West, then went north along the avenue past the float assembly between 81st and 86th Streets. In the 2024 guide, visitors could leave on any block from 82nd to 86th. In 2025, the crowd that used to spread across five side streets went through a single corner and then up the avenue.
The 2025 rules give a reasonable baseline until Macy's posts the 2026 ones. That year the event was free and needed no ticket. Umbrellas, backpacks, large bags, chairs, alcohol, drones and e-cigarettes were banned. It ran rain or shine. If you bring relatives, the bag rule is the one that tends to catch people.
At least one neighborhood business is already planning around the walk. Hotel Belleclaire's Thanksgiving Experience package, advertised in September, includes a guided walk to balloon inflation, along with hot-chocolate mugs, a blanket and children's coloring books.
What "100 Inflatable Elements" Counts
Macy's August 18 announcement promises "a record-breaking lineup of 100 inflatable elements." That figure is easy to read as 100 balloons on the lawn behind the museum, which would be roughly three times last year's count. West Side Rag counted 34 balloons and 28 floats in 2025, five of the balloons and seven of the floats new. The 2026 count covers more kinds of inflatables. The Macy's All-Stars float alone brings back Bullwinkle J. Moose, Olive Oyl, Popeye, Swee'Pea and Sonic the Hedgehog as a group of inflatable and costumed characters riding a single float. Macy's has not split the 100 into balloons and other inflatables, so the size of the 77th Street lawn on Wednesday is still unknown.
What Macy's has announced:
- Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey, a brand-new balloon.
- Underdog, in a reimagined version, on his first flight since 1984.
- Tony Sarg's Amazing Marionettes, a new float honoring the designer behind the parade's signature elements. It features re-creations of his original characters and a puppet likeness of Sarg himself.
- Billie Brightpaw and Tom Jr., also on the centennial lineup.
The Mickey ties back to the installation. The New York Historical is showing Helander's Mickey from about 1934 on the same block where a new Mickey balloon will be inflated on November 25.
Last Year's Closures as a Baseline
The city and the MTA have not yet published 2026 closures or station changes. Last year's plan shows what to expect, and the two 2025 accounts disagree on the hours. West Side Rag reported Central Park West closed from 72nd to 86th Streets from 12 a.m. Wednesday until noon Thursday. It also reported the cross streets from 72nd to 85th, between Central Park West and Columbus, closed from midnight Wednesday into Thursday, and the 79th Street Transverse closed from 2 a.m. Wednesday until noon Thursday. The city's 2025 closure notice listed the same stretch of Central Park West from 2 a.m. Wednesday through 3 p.m. Thursday, with cross streets closing in stages. Either way, a building on one of those side streets lost car access for well over a day. Deliveries, grocery orders and car-service pickups for the holiday were affected.
The MTA's 2025 Thanksgiving advisory handled parade morning this way:
- Trains bypassed 81 St–Museum of Natural History, and the F bypassed 57 St, from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- Some entrances at 59 St–Columbus Circle were closed.
- The stations named for the start were 72 St on the 1, 2 and 3, 79 St on the 1, and 59 St–Columbus Circle.
On inflation day in 2025, West Side Rag named the B and C stop at 72nd Street and Central Park West as the closest to the checkpoint. If those patterns hold, the 81st Street station will be closed to riders on Thursday morning, which is the one morning many Central Park West residents would most want it.
The 2026 exit, queue time, bag rules and closure hours will appear on macys.com/parade and nyc.gov once Macy's and the city publish them. Until then, three things are confirmed: the entry at 72nd and Columbus, the hours from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., and an installation on Central Park West you can see this week.
If you live on the parade blocks and want to talk through how a big event weekend affects a building or a sale, Daniel Kramp is glad to sit down with you. Let's connect for a private consultation.
