Zac Collins, coming from Texas, took his family to New York during the holiday just for watching the parade. "My daughter wants to come here and see this," said Zac, pointing to a teenage girl sitting on a carpet behind the guardrail, covered in layers of scarves.

The city has issued an extreme cold weather alert for Thursday and urged anyone going outside to wear hats, scarves, gloves and layered clothing and to keep their fingertips, earlobes, and noses covered to prevent frostbite.

The parade, which began in 1924, featured some 8,000 marchers, including high school bands from across the country, and 16 massive balloons and 26 large floats. Among the balloons and floats are the 53-foot-high (16 meters) Pikachu from the Pokemon franchise, a 67-foot-high (20 meters) Ronald McDonald as well as Little Cloud by FriendsWithYou and Sunny the Snowpal, according to Macy's parade website.

Security was beefed up for the event as thousands of police officers were stationed along the parade route, which concludes at Macy's flagship store on 34th Street and 7th Avenue. Counterterrorism teams with long guns were on hand, with plainclothes officers mixing into the crowd. Throughout the city, security bars could be seen blocking access to mailboxes and trash disposals in an effort to curb any possible bombs.