Thanksgiving parade goes off-Broadway

NEW YORK, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The organizers of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade say it will skip New York's Broadway for the first time in its 85-year history.

Robin Hall, director of Macy's National Events, told Wednesday's New York Daily News the move was being made to avoid new pedestrian plazas that have been built along Broadway at Times Square and Herald Square.

"Dramatic changes in the midtown landscape will divert us for the first time from the fabled Broadway route we have followed since our first parade in 1924," Hall told the newspaper, with Macy's spokesman Orlando Veras adding, "With the street fixtures, lighting and concrete barriers, you couldn't drive anything down those streets."

Meanwhile, the off-Broadway parade -- which as usual will be led off with a Tom Turkey float and end with Santa Claus' appearance -- will feature singer Cyndi Lauper and new mega-balloons depicting Spider-Man, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Ronald McDonald and Sailor Mickey Mouse, the Daily News said.

Along with Lauper, other celebrities set to appear include Andrea Bocelli, Alan Cumming, Billy Currington, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, Gloria Gaynor, Cheyenne Jackson, Jane Krakowski, Carly Simon, Ziggy Marley with Judah Marley, Katharine McPhee and figure skating star Emily Hughes.