M Macys Inc

By Leslie Brody 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promised a campaign close to the heart of New Yorkers -- getting the Snoopy balloon back into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Snoopy's "got panache, he's got spirit," the mayor said Thursday after looking up at a giant Charlie Brown, an inflated look-alike also from the classic "Peanuts" comic strip.

The beloved beagle was missing from action. A Macy's official explained it was Charlie Brown's turn.

"Snoopy has been in the parade in seven different forms since 1968, but we haven't seen Charlie Brown since 2002," Amy Kule, the parade's executive producer, told People magazine. "So this year he'll replace Snoopy, determined to fly his kite, which will be tangled around him."

The mayor, a Democrat who is running for re-election next year, has shown holiday clout before: He lobbied successfully to bring the July Fourth fireworks back to the East River in 2014 after Macy's moved the spectacle to the Hudson River. Mr. de Blasio argued more New Yorkers could see fireworks on the East River, including those in his home borough of Brooklyn.

Throngs of New Yorkers and out-of-town visitors lined Central Park West and Sixth Avenue under cloudy skies. Macy's estimated more than 3.5 million spectators attended the 90th parade and more than 50 million watched on television.

More than 1,000 New York Police Department officers patrolled the route, which was also protected by barriers of squad cars, emergency vehicles and sanitation trucks. The department also deployed bomb sniffing dogs and plainclothes officers, officials said.

Shortly before the 9 a.m. start, police Commissioner James O'Neill said he was "extremely confident" the parade would march on safely. Mr. O'Neill said security was extra tight after Islamic State, or ISIL, a militant group operating in Iraq and Syria, ran a picture of the parade in a magazine.

The route started at West 77th Street and Central Park West and ended at Macy's on West 34th Street. For many families, the hoopla signals the start of the holiday shopping season.

Snoopy fans had something to give thanks for. He appeared in his furry form on a float with his blue doghouse.

Write to Leslie Brody at leslie.brody@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 24, 2016 13:48 ET (18:48 GMT)

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