First of all, driving and parking the City will be out of the question. You will be stuck in traffic and many of the major street will be closed for the parade. There is also a holiday girdlock alert in the City until December 23rd. If you don t believe, me check the link below.http://nativenewyorker10454.blogspot.com��My advice is parking your car outside of the City and take the train into town. If you re coming from Upstate or New England, you can park at one of the many parking garages on the Metro-North commuter trains lines and take the train to Grand Central. Below is a list of large parking garages on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines.New Haven Line-----------------------New Haven-Union StationBridgeportStamfordRye (free parking on weekends and holidays)Larchmont (free parking on weekends and holidays)New RochelleMount Vernon EastHarlem Line-------------------White PlainsHudson Line------------------PoughkeepsieCroton HarmonIf you re coming from points south and west, you can park your car at one of the many park garages in both Jersey City or Hoboken, NJ and take the PATH train into the City. The links below shows the location of parking garages in both cities that near PATH train station.Grove Street Stationhttp://maps.google.com/maps?near=Grove+S��Exchange Place Stationhttp://maps.google.com/maps?near=Exchang��Pavonia/Newport Stationhttp://maps.google.com/maps?near=Pavonia��Hoboken Stationhttp://maps.google.com/maps?near=Hoboken��Journal SquareParking is available at the Journal Square Transportation Center on two decks through a privately owned parking facility, LAZ Parking. For additional information, please call (201) 216-6744.If you re coming from Long Island, you can park your car on of the may parking garages on the LIRR commuter train lines and take the train into the City.Second, in regards to finding the best place to view the parade. The best I would recommend will be along Central Park West from 81st Street to Central Park South, and along 7th Avenue from Central Park South to Times Square. Stores along the parade route will be close on Thanksgiving, therefore you will have to stand on the sidewalk.If you re looking for a place to sit, you might want to head down to the end of the parade route at 34th Street and Broadway, which is in front of the Macy s flagship store. Eitherwise, its standing room only along the parade route.Please note, this years parade route has been change. The link below show the new route for 2009.Good luckNative New Yorker
I normally disagree with Native New Yorker when he constantly tells people to park outside of the city and take the train in because I think it s totally unnecessary, but Thanksgiving is the ONE DAY of the year on which I agree with him, so, yes, park outside of NYC and get a train or a bus into town.You can stand anywhere along the route (see link, below), but don t try to stand in a store, they probably won t let you, and, frankly, it s NOT the best view at all. Some folks claim that it s better to stand near where the parade has to make a turn because it has to slow down to do so, but I doubt there s that much of a difference really, and the bleacher seats are not available to regular folks, I think they re for VIPs and you have to be invited to sit in them, sorry.Good luck, have fun, and the link below is to a webpage about the parade with a map of the route...