Sandy victims cheered by NYC's Thanksgiving parade
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| People watch the 86th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Thursday Nov. 22, 2012, in New York. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade put a festive mood in the air in a city still coping with the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. |
NEW YORK (AP)
-- Victims of Superstorm Sandy in New York and elsewhere in the
Northeast were comforted Thursday by kinder weather, free holiday meals
and - for some - front row seats to the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day
Parade.
"It means a lot," said Karen Panetta,
of the hard-hit Broad Channel section of Queens, as she sat in a special
viewing section set aside for New Yorkers displaced by the storm.
"We're thankful to be here and actually be a family and to feel like life's a little normal today," she said.
The
popular Macy's parade, attended by more than 3 million people and
watched by 50 million on TV, included such giant balloons as Elf on a
Shelf and Papa Smurf, a new version of Hello Kitty, Buzz Lightyear,
Sailor Mickey Mouse and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Real-life stars included
singer Carly Rae Jepsen and Rachel Crow of "The X Factor."
The
young, and the young at heart, were delighted by the sight and sound of
marching bands, performers and, of course, the giant balloons. The
sunny weather quickly surpassed 50 degrees.
Alan
Batt and his 11-year-old twins, Kyto and Elina, took in the parade at
the end of the route, well away from the crowd and seemingly too far
away for a good view. But they had an advantage: Two tall stepladders
they hauled over from their apartment eight blocks away - one for each
twin.
"We're New Yorkers," the 65-year-old Batt said. "We know what we're doing."
With the height advantage, "I get to see everything!" Kyto said.
At
nearby Greeley Square, social worker Lowell Herschberger, 40, of
Brooklyn, sought in vain to tear his sons, 8-year-old Logan and
6-year-old Liam, from a foosball table set up in the tiny park as the
balloons crept by on the near horizon.
"Hey, guys - there's Charlie Brown," he said, pointing at the old standby balloon.
The boys didn't look up.
"I guess they're over it," the father said with a shrug.
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg was reflective Thursday as he praised police,
firefighters, armed services personnel, sanitation workers and
volunteers involved in the storm response. His office was coordinating
the distribution of 26,500 meals at 30 sites in neighborhoods affected
by Sandy, and other organizations also were pitching in.
The
disaster zones on Staten Island were flooded - this time with food and
volunteers from Glen Rock, N.J. organized using social media.
"We
had three carloads of food," said volunteer Beth Fernandez. "The whole
town of Glen Rock pitched in. ... It's really cool. It's my best, my
favorite Thanksgiving ever."
On Long Island,
the Long Beach nonprofit Surf For All hosted a Thanksgiving event that
fed 1,200 people. Carol Gross, 72, a Long Beach native, said she went to
volunteer but was turned away because of a surplus of helpers.
"A lot of people like me, old-timers, we've never seen anything like this horror," she said, recalling the destruction.
Gross' brother, Jerry, who moved to Arizona in the 1960s, was stunned by what he saw when he returned for Thanksgiving.
"To
come back and see the boardwalk all devastated like it is, it's like
going to Manhattan and finding Times Square gone," he said.
George
Alvarez, whose Toms River, N.J., home suffered moderate damage when
Sandy hit the coast, said his family usually does "the traditional big
dinner" on Thanksgiving. But this year, they chose to attend a community
dinner held at an area church.
"This storm
not only impacted us, it impacted a lot of our friends, our community,
our psyche," Alvarez said shortly before his family headed out for their
meal. "We could have had our usual dinner here at home, but this year
it felt like we should be with others who are experiencing the same
concerns we are. We made it through this devastating storm, and that's
something to celebrate."
Across the country, other cities offered a mix of holiday cheer and acts of charity.
Thousands
of people made the most of the mild, sunny fall weather to watch
Detroit's Thanksgiving parade,
hours ahead of the Lions' annual home
game.
Floats and marching bands poured down
Woodward Avenue on Thursday morning, with many spectators forgoing the
cold-weather gear of past parades. Detroit's temperature hit 52 degrees
at 11 a.m., with a warm wind blowing from the South.
Parade
participants also included NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, a 28-year-old
Rochester Hills native and the first Michigan-born driver to win the
Sprint Cup Series.
In San Francisco, lines of
the homeless and less fortunate began forming late Wednesday outside a
church in the city's tough Tenderloin district that expected to serve
more than 5,000 meals, said the Rev. Cecil Williams.
"We must make sure people can overcome all adversities," Williams said. "You can, you will and you must."
