The day before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the enormous balloons featured in the parade have to be inflated, secured with ropes and nets, and anchored with sandbags. What used to be a neighborhood tradition for children and their parents on the streets surrounding the American Museum of Natural History has become a major tourist attraction with an enormous police presence and security. This year, not for the first time, the New York City mayor and police commissioner held a news conference to assure the public that the parade will be safe and there is “no credible threat” to New York or the parade.