Santa Claus nearly needed Bermuda shorts yesterday as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade kicked off the holiday season amid balmy temperatures that made it feel like summer.
Tens of thousands of revelers, many in T-shirts, lined the sidewalks along Central Park West and Broadway to see SpongeBob SquarePants, Charlie Brown, Big Bird and dozens of other larger-than-life balloons.
“I just love being in New York City. New York City is where you really get the energy of Thanksgiving,” roared stockbroker Chris Hussey, 40, who brought his family from Norwalk, Conn.
The parade featured 59 balloons and 27 floats as well as dozens of marching bands and clowns who began high-stepping it at 9 a.m. on the Upper West Side and didn’t stop until they reached Herald Square.
Making the parade extra special was the incredibly mild weather – at 65 degrees, which ties this Thanksgiving with the one in 1966 as the third warmest Thanksgiving on record.
Only 1920, at 72 degrees, and 1933, at 69 degrees, were warmer.
Kids from 2 to 92 loved all the attractions, but goofy SpongeBob SquarePants, now starring in his own movie, shared the spotlight with Santa as the parade’s most popular figure.
“SpongeBob! SpongeBob!” youngsters standing outside Toys “R” Us in Times Square screamed in unison.
Just like Christmas morning, many kids got their parents up at the crack of dawn to make sure they got a good position for the gala.
Regina Walsh, a Staten Island social worker, rented two hotel rooms with 13 relatives and friends to make sure they’d be up early – and so they could have a turkey feast at a Midtown restaurant later.
“You think I want to cook and clean up every Thanksgiving? This way we get to mix it up a little,” she said with a wink.
There had been fears that high winds might mess with some of the balloons, but there were only gentle breezes as the festivities began.
Still, the Bumpus Balloonicles could be seen precariously rocking back and forth for a short while.
Macy’s officials have been extra careful about the winds since 1997, when gusts blew a “Cat in the Hat” figure into a lamppost, severely injuring a spectator.
You can’t have a Thanksgiving parade without somebody wearing a turkey hat, and Vince Stefano; his son, Joe, 12; daughter, Natalie, 16; and nephew, Joe, 20, were up to the task.
“This is so exciting,” laughed Vince, of the Westchester community of Tuckahoe, from under his turkey headgear. “The amount of people is incredible.”
But this Thanksgiving wasn’t only for giving thanks – it was also for romance.
Firefighter Rusel Greller, 27, of Levittown, L.I., drew wild cheers as he dropped to one knee in Times Square and asked girlfriend Sarah Dowling, 24, to marry him. She swooned, said “yes” and sealed the deal with a kiss.
“It went kind of quick. You sort of forget there’s a parade going on,” an ecstatic Greller said.
Louis Henry Mitchell, a designer for Sesame Workshop, and Rebekah June Marler, a teacher at PS 50 in East Harlem, took it one step further.
They got hitched outside Macy’s before the start of the parade as Sesame Street characters Elmo and Grover looked on.
New York’s Finest were also out in full force, making the parade a safe one – and finding lost kids.
They helped locate Kimberly Lopez, 8, and Hesed Cid, 3, after the two got separated from their parents for two hours.
“I was lost, but I wasn’t scared,” said Hesed, who then waved frantically to Santa.
Numerous stars – including singer Andrea Bocelli, the Barenaked Ladies and opera star Deborah Voigt – entertained from floats.
Broadway Joe Namath lived up to his name as he smiled and waved from a float along the Great White Way.
Brooke Shields, now in the Broadway musical “Wonderful Town,” and stars of the Elvis Presley-inspired musical “All Shook Up” also entertained.
Mayor Bloomberg was ecstatic as he greeted paradegoers along the route.
“Charlie Brown is my favorite balloon – so I can save you the question,” the increasingly media-savvy mayor said in a canny pre-emptive riposte to reporters.
He later headed to Brooklyn to present 911 call operators with chocolate-chip cookies.
“I think what you see in the city today is there is a spirit,” the mayor said. “People are happy.”
The Macy’s parade started in 1924 and has been an annual tradition, canceled only in the World War II years of 1942 to 1944.
Additional reporting by Frankie Edozien