This Thursday is the 83rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  For those of you willing to brave the parade craziness, I salute you.  For those of you who aren't quite as brave, you can still see all of the parade floats up close on Wednesday night at Central Park West and Columbus Circle between 77th and 81st St!  The balloons are inflated on these blocks the night before the parade every year and the public essentially parades around the balloons to get a sneak peek!  Personally, I love this event.  It really has that family/community feel to it.  A couple years ago it started snowing while I was there and volunteers were handing out free hot chocolate - it was just one of those iconic New York moments.  I would recommend going later in the evening (after 5PM) when the balloons are more inflated and lit up with spotlights!