1. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
In 2005, 2.5 million spectators lined Broadway from 77th Street and Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square store to witness this Thanksgiving Day spectacle. Die-hard fans—or tourists in town just for the event—watched the balloons being inflated on 77th and 79th streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue the evening before. Robin Hall, Macy's group senior vice president for special events, oversees the massive spectacle.
2. New Year's Eve in Times Square
The Times Square New Year's Eve celebration is a monumental affair: it includes more than a ton of confetti and 750,000 spectators on hand to watch the Waterford crystal-decorated ball drop from the top of a 77-foot flagpole at 1 Times Square. Behind the big night are Karen Zornow Leiding and Tim Tompkins of the Times Square Alliance, and event production firm Countdown Entertainment.
3. St. Patrick's Day Parade
Fifth Avenue was a slowly snaking sea of green clothes on March 17, when the parade proceeded from 44th Street to 86th. Produced by St. Patrick's Day Parade Inc., this year's parade included more than 150,000 participants and two million spectators.
4. West Indian-American Day Carnival
Three million people line Eastern Parkway from Crown Heights to Prospect Heights in Brooklyn for this Labor Day event filled with Caribbean dance, music, food, and culture. Vibrant costumes and steel drum music draw huge crowds, making it the biggest and most well-attended parade in Brooklyn. The West Indian-American Day Carnival Association's Yolanda Lezama-Clark produces the event.
5. Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting
Every holiday season, millions of tourists come to see the enormous Christmas tree. In 2005, a 74-foot-tall Norway spruce from Wayne, New Jersey, decked in 78,000 lights and one big Swarovski crystal star, stood in Rock Center from November 30 through January 6. Glenn Mahoney, director of special events at Tishman Speyer, Rockefeller Center's landlord, oversees the late November-early December event.
6. National Puerto Rican Day Parade
This parade will take over Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th with more than two million spectators and about 100,000 marchers June 11. Festive Productions president Mike Laino will be in charge of planning the parade and many of its surrounding events.
7. Gay Pride Parade
More than a million spectators view the 500,000-participant Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March (the official name), which runs down Fifth venue into Greenwich Village. Nonprofit Heritage of Pride organizes the parade, this year held June 25, and also coordinates the four other major events
held June 18 to 25.
8. Halloween Parade
The annual Halloween parade takes on a different theme every year—the 2005 parade had a Mardi Gras theme as an homage to Hurricane Katrina victims. Village Halloween Parade Inc. artistic and producing director Jeanne Fleming organizes this theatrical event, which has hundreds of puppets, bands, and costumed New Yorkers marching along Sixth Avenue.
9. Revlon Run/Walk for Women
On May 13, this annual 5K run/walk will begin in Times Square and end in Central Park's East Meadow. Produced by the Davis Group, the event generates funds for organizations fighting women's cancers. Last year's walk had 50,000 participants.
Posted 04.05.06
Photo: Staceyjoy Elkin
Related Stories
New York's Top 100 Events 2006
New York's Top 100 Events 2005
In 2005, 2.5 million spectators lined Broadway from 77th Street and Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square store to witness this Thanksgiving Day spectacle. Die-hard fans—or tourists in town just for the event—watched the balloons being inflated on 77th and 79th streets between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue the evening before. Robin Hall, Macy's group senior vice president for special events, oversees the massive spectacle.
2. New Year's Eve in Times Square
The Times Square New Year's Eve celebration is a monumental affair: it includes more than a ton of confetti and 750,000 spectators on hand to watch the Waterford crystal-decorated ball drop from the top of a 77-foot flagpole at 1 Times Square. Behind the big night are Karen Zornow Leiding and Tim Tompkins of the Times Square Alliance, and event production firm Countdown Entertainment.
3. St. Patrick's Day Parade
Fifth Avenue was a slowly snaking sea of green clothes on March 17, when the parade proceeded from 44th Street to 86th. Produced by St. Patrick's Day Parade Inc., this year's parade included more than 150,000 participants and two million spectators.
4. West Indian-American Day Carnival
Three million people line Eastern Parkway from Crown Heights to Prospect Heights in Brooklyn for this Labor Day event filled with Caribbean dance, music, food, and culture. Vibrant costumes and steel drum music draw huge crowds, making it the biggest and most well-attended parade in Brooklyn. The West Indian-American Day Carnival Association's Yolanda Lezama-Clark produces the event.
5. Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting
Every holiday season, millions of tourists come to see the enormous Christmas tree. In 2005, a 74-foot-tall Norway spruce from Wayne, New Jersey, decked in 78,000 lights and one big Swarovski crystal star, stood in Rock Center from November 30 through January 6. Glenn Mahoney, director of special events at Tishman Speyer, Rockefeller Center's landlord, oversees the late November-early December event.
6. National Puerto Rican Day Parade
This parade will take over Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th with more than two million spectators and about 100,000 marchers June 11. Festive Productions president Mike Laino will be in charge of planning the parade and many of its surrounding events.
7. Gay Pride Parade
More than a million spectators view the 500,000-participant Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March (the official name), which runs down Fifth venue into Greenwich Village. Nonprofit Heritage of Pride organizes the parade, this year held June 25, and also coordinates the four other major events
held June 18 to 25.
8. Halloween Parade
The annual Halloween parade takes on a different theme every year—the 2005 parade had a Mardi Gras theme as an homage to Hurricane Katrina victims. Village Halloween Parade Inc. artistic and producing director Jeanne Fleming organizes this theatrical event, which has hundreds of puppets, bands, and costumed New Yorkers marching along Sixth Avenue.
9. Revlon Run/Walk for Women
On May 13, this annual 5K run/walk will begin in Times Square and end in Central Park's East Meadow. Produced by the Davis Group, the event generates funds for organizations fighting women's cancers. Last year's walk had 50,000 participants.
Posted 04.05.06
Photo: Staceyjoy Elkin
Related Stories
New York's Top 100 Events 2006
New York's Top 100 Events 2005
A West Indian Day carnivalgoer.
