*Holiday Re-Air* The Macy's Thanskgiving Day Parade! - With John Friia

0:00This episode of the New Yorkers podcast is brought to you by NewYork100.org. recognizing excellence across New York City's five boroughs. Hello, everyone, and welcome to The New Yorkers, a podcast by New York City Cop. I'm your host, Kelly Copp, a published photographer, New York City tour business owner, real estate content creator, podcaster, and above all else, a New Yorker. Ladies and gentlemen, the next Brooklyn Bell, Trace is now high. Stand clear of the closing doors, please.

0:46This is a time square.

1:05With me today, I have my friend John Freya. He is a digital creator, New York City historian, and featured on Pix11's New York Living. But above all else, John is a New Yorker. Welcome to the show, John. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me on, Kelly. Thanks for joining us. It's really exciting to talk about New York City history. There's so much going on really right now that we can talk for a very long time. I know. I know. We could talk forever. I'm so happy. John is what I would call a New York City aficionado. I think I know a lot. John knows more than I know.

1:46You'll find me walking around and if I see something that stands out, if there's something on the building or on the sidewalk, I stop and I'll Google it and I'll learn more about it and then I'll continue my walk and read while I do that. Which is not the safest of things but there's everywhere i turn there's something that sparks my interest and a couple of weeks ago i realized that there is a like a box of just useless knowledge in my head which you think is useless that's true if i if i go on jeopardy and there's a new york category i'm gonna i'll sweep that category but um i believe that too there is just i i can just ramble on and on about throw give me a location i can give i can tell you some info on it i'm I'm thinking of one right now, but we'll get to it later.

2:33So, you know, we want to know about you. Tell us, you know, your story, where you're from and did you move? I don't even know much about you in that aspect. Well, you know, you said that I am a New Yorker and you're right. I grew up on Long Island. Some people might say that I'm not an official New Yorker because I wasn't born in the five boroughs. But yes, I'm a native to New York State and I've been in the city since 2010. So it's been a long time. Right. And I actually studied journalism and focused on New York City local news. And I was a producer for New York One. And I did a switch to some national morning news.

3:09And then in 2020, like everyone else, they kind of reevaluated their lives. And while I was working in morning news, my getaway, because my hours were crazy, was hopping on a city bike and filming videos about New York City. They started to take off on TikTok. talk. And I remember the day after the election in 2020, that was my last day in news. And then I segued into content creation. And growing up, our family vacations were going to museums, going to the Gilded Age mansions along the Hudson and the Gold Coast of Long Island. And that nurtured this history bug in me for such a long time. And I never really took note of it until 2020.

3:51And I started to do these videos of history and New York. And before I know it, I had more than 100 ,000 followers on TikTok and it has continued to grow. And across all platforms now, I have more than 300 ,000 followers, which is crazy. That's amazing. So what platforms are you specifically on? So I'm on TikTok, which that is here in NYC and on Instagram, which is here in New York or here in ny oh nice um and yeah so i just i focus on everything that you can think of do you do youtube you know i i need to do youtube i want to do long form videos because i just i would love to do that but it takes a lot of time to do that although i should just post the shorts that's what i should do true i just forget and i want to try snapchat too that's on my that's my next list i just feel old for snapchat and i know it's popular but i just i just not bringing me there they're changing everything up in the new year.

4:47And I would say, okay, do it now. Well, it's interesting because I actually just started telling my, well, I told a lot of my, um, my friends on my Facebook page, my New York city cop Facebook page that now I'm doing, I'm back on YouTube every day and doing my shorts and doing long videos too. So they get a double feature. If they're on my YouTube and Facebook, they can see two videos, but it's a lot to add that on, you know, as with everything that we do every day. But I think it's important because YouTube is, I think, one of the biggest platforms in this. Not the biggest, but it's one of the biggest.

5:23And everybody knows about it. And to monetize and everything, it's a great platform. So I'm doing more on YouTube. But go ahead. I want to hear more about YouTube. Yeah. So as I was creating these videos online, I got the interest of a couple of local news stations and also a national talk show, which that was on my bucket list, which is insane. What show was it? So it was the Drew Barrymore show. Oh, I went to the Broadway flea market and I love collecting old Broadway memorabilia. And I picked up this original playbill or Broadway program from Ethel Barrymore. And it was from 19, I think the 1920s or 1913.

6:03And I wanted to give it to Drew Barrymore in person. and that's so cool it seemed very hard to do but then i realized the barrymores have a lot of new york connections i mean you have the barrymore theater named after ethel barrymore and um there's statues of ethel on in times square so i figured let's see if i create this video series the barrymore files highlighting each barrymore and their significance to entertainment and new york history and i knew how that algorithm worked and i was hoping like an executive producer or producer from the show would see it. And sure enough, they did. And they invited me to host this segment talking about the Barrymore family at the Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which coincidentally was originally like the Hollywood of the East Coast.

6:50There was more movie studios there than - In Fort Lee? In Fort Lee. That is where a lot of the original, like the first movie studios were there. The talkies were filmed there. From across the GW Bridge? Yes. I can walk there. Yeah. That's crazy. I know. and then I hosted that and as I was leaving the center I gave the playbill to the producer I said hey like I love New York City history and I love Broadway history but I really appreciate family history and I wanted Drew to have it like that was I didn't at that point I didn't care if I met her or not but I got a phone call the next the next week and I said we want to have you in the studio while we roll your segment into the show and we want you to surprise Drew with this gif and sure enough i got to the studio the next the next week sat front row and they rolled the segment in and my face was beet red because i have not only is drew watching it i have the entire audience watching it yeah and then they're looking at me and i'm like oh god i just hope that it goes well um and then she she calls calls me out and that's when she brought me on to onto the stage i sat on Drew's desk, which was really cool.

8:00That's pretty cool. Yeah. And I gave her the playbill. That's really, I'm sure your face wasn't red on camera though. I'm sure you look great. It might've been. My face is always red. It's just my ears get red at that point. I get that too. But that's a really cool moment. Yeah. And like all, like that was an incredible thing that I've never thought that I would be able to experience. But there's even videos that I've created that people have followed up with me. I did a video during Fleet Week and I highlighted one of the Navy, one of the Marines or Navy officers. And he was showing me around one of the helicopters.

8:36It turns out someone slid into his DMs from my video and they're engaged now. Oh, wow. I know. You brought them together. I brought them together just because of my video. I'm like, that's insane. Can you officiate a wedding? I was thinking about getting, when my brother and my sister-in-law were getting married because there was like two best men and then two maid of honors. I'm like, you know what? Oh, that's pretty cool. it was a big wedding yeah i can just officiate the wedding we can just kind of take one person off the altar i mean we can go to city hall and do it but they decided to leave me in the best man position but that's so pretty cool i may have to get my license yeah you're bringing people together you're hooking people up that you know what i'll add matchmaker onto my resume you're here in new york a dating site oh hey look at you i like you know what's funny i was scrolling through the, I don't know if scrolling is the right word, but through the TV channels one day and I saw you on TV on one of the news stations.

9:30Yeah. I was like, there's John. Yeah. Yeah. You did so good. Thank you. Yeah. I was really impressed. I, that I started two years ago and the ongoing joke there is I usually connect my appearance with something that's happening in the city or if there's a holiday. And my second appearance was in November, actually two years ago. And I told him that I love to bake cookies during Christmas time and I'll bake. Oh, you do? Oh yeah. I do these chocolate chip cookies that has like a little caffeine in it. Everyone loves them. And I bake like three to 400 of them. And they said, well, where are the cookies?

10:06I said, well, invite me to the next, you know, when I'm on next month, I'll bring some in for you guys. Oh, that's awesome. And that's exactly what I did. I brought them cookies in December. and that from there, every time I'm on, I have to bring food into the studio. Otherwise, I, you know, I mean, it's not that they won't let me in. Right. But it's just the tradition that we've, yes, it's a little, you know, we have to bring that in in order to step in. Well, you need to let us know that, you know, so we can put in my stories on my social media that when you're on TV, so people can watch you too.

10:36Thank you. You know, so that'd be really cool. So can you tell us what your social media theme is? Like, what is your goal or what inspires you how you do your social media? So it's really highlighting the history of New York and then also highlighting people that make New York and giving their voice a platform. You know, if it's a small business owner, if it's someone that is an artist on the street where we'll pass something that we've seen so many times and we want to know more about it, but we just don't take that extra initiative to do that research online. I've done street artist videos on street artists, on restaurant owners, because these are the people that make New York what New York is.

11:21So that's really what I encompass. And I love that. I try to throw in a little bit of my personality. more and more I've been adding things that I like that represent who I am into my videos. I love that, John. I love your page, you know, obviously, and I see you all the time with our group of friends at events. And it's, John and I were just talking earlier too, how it's so, it's so awesome to have such a positive group of friends, how we all have such a passion for New York city and then a passion for our own style, what we do. and it's just a great community that we have built together too.

11:58It is because at the end of the day, a lot of us work solo every day. So when we do see each other, it's just nice to be around and share that passion because we all have that creative drive. When we're at an event, our creative juices are churning. Right. And your video is going to be different than another creator's video. Exactly. Everyone has their own little touch. And that's what makes our community so unique. And there's no, for me, I always think there's no reason for us to have like any competitiveness. Exactly. Because where your voice is different than my voice. Exactly. And you create like your videos and the longer videos that you've done with the lives, like you're showing how New York really is too.

12:43Right. And I love that. And you put a beauty in anything. If it's like the flag on the GW Bridge or if it's a fire. There's things that people, again, see past every day. We take it for granted. We take it for granted. But you really show that beauty of New York. Well, just like you, though, you know, and the people that you honor in New York City, too, the people of New York City, which is incredible. So let's move into Thanksgiving. Oh, you want to talk about Thanksgiving? I mean, yeah, because there's a lot to talk about. There is. We're how many days away, and I feel that there has been - Yeah, there's not that many days away.

13:21It's eight days away. I've been thinking about Thanksgiving probably since September, and I know - Or no, probably since August. The reason for that is because they - Macy's, you know, we have the big parade. We love that. And they do their test run in - They do a special test run for the people that are actually doing the balloons. Right. And at the end of summer, I think. Mm-hmm. And then they unveiled the new balloons, which is the first weekend in November. And this year they have a lot of new balloons. I think it's like seven. Yeah, seven. One of them is Minnie, who by coincidence, she's actually a New Yorker.

13:58Minnie Mouse is a New Yorker. I did not know that. Did you know that, Jay? I did not know that. Yeah. So she debuted in Steamboat Mickey or Willie. Yes. I was actually going to say I remember that, but I don't remember because it was like 100 years ago, basically. But I remember when I was a kid seeing it. It debuted at an old Broadway theater when it was a movie theater. Did it really? Do you happen to know what year? If you don't, it's okay. I don't off the top of my head. 1930s, 40s. Yeah. It has to be, because it has to be like actually in the 20s because the copyright was just up for Mickey Mouse.

14:32Wow. Which is why we're seeing a lot more renditions of Mickey Mouse throughout. Really? Yeah. So Minnie Mouse is new in the parade. Is new in the parade. I think you know this. I used to be a balloon handler in the parade for like five years. Yeah, I need to know about this because that's actually been a dream of mine to be a balloon handler. It's really fun and I loved it. But when the pandemic came, they asked me to be in it too. Like the few that were in it, just a little production in front of Macy's. And I just had hernia surgery a few weeks before. And I said, well, I'm not sure I have to ask my surgeon.

15:06And they're like, oh, no, no, don't worry about it. Your health is more important. We'll see you next year. I haven't heard from them since. So how many years did you do it? Five. I was a Power Ranger on the, uh, Miss, well, Hello Kitty, I didn't know much about, but talk about people going bananas over Hello Kitty. That's like how Bluey was last year. Bluey too. Oh my gosh. I forget who else I, I was at one of the stars, the little stars was just a couple of people. Cause there's like a couple of hundred, there's maybe a hundred of us with ropes, you know, with the, with the huge balloons. And when it's windy, it's really challenging.

15:40And like when you turn on Central Park South down Sixth Avenue, I mean, it's a wind tunnel and it's now I get how everybody has to struggle to hold on to the balloon if it's windy. And sometimes it's windy and we have to keep the balloons lower, you know, because of, you know, they could go flying away and pull us away. And there's a lot to it, but it's really cool. I absolutely loved it. I'm sad they don't do it anymore. Yeah. It's, I, it's on my goal. The only thing is i know it's an early wake-up call yeah you get on the train i got on the train the subway at 3 a.m oh because you have to be like because or i think you have to be at macy's actually it was it's at the the famous new yorker hotel there's a huge auditorium there somewhere i can't remember maybe it's but anyway and then it's all sections of what you know balloon you're going to be on and you get dressed in your costume and stuff or whatever i don't want to call it a costume whatever it's called yeah i guess it's a costume we all wear the same thing yeah yeah and so like my hello kitty costume and i was like i don't want to you know i mean i loved it but i was afterwards i realized how popular hello kitty whatever it's called yeah but anyway it's really cool it's really fun it is really cool and my one of my favorite things um about the parade is the night before when they yes tell us about the balloons so the blocks around the american Museum of Natural History, that is where they inflate all the balloons.

17:05And I remember going before the pandemic and it wasn't this big celebration as what it is this like today. It was it was a nice thing where you can just walk around the blocks and you get really up close to these balloons that are being inflated that everyone that millions of people will be watching to go to. Yeah. Last year I walked by. I'm like, this is insane. Thousands. The Upper West Side is taken over by Taurus, which is great for business, but you cannot walk by Columbus Avenue. It is so hard. And I think there's only one way to enter and it's by 72nd Street and Columbus. Now keep in mind, the museum itself is on 79th Street.

17:47So you have to walk over an avenue and then up almost from Columbus back over to Central Park West. And then you have to walk all the way up seven blocks and there's a lot of people thousands thousands and just if you go which it's totally worth it um because it is it is a great experience especially for families just carve out a couple hours yes um i actually ended a tour in that area a personal tour with some people and i'm like oh the the balloon inflation night is tonight let's go see it we were, we gave up. We got from Columbus to Central Park West and then looked north. It was a sea of thousands of people.

18:29I'm like, it's impossible, you guys. Yeah. We're going to be here for hours. You know, I'm happy to do it, but you're on vacation. I don't know if you want to waste all this time. Yeah, and it's always hard to figure out what time that is the best time to go to the inflation. Because if you go in the morning, there's not that many people, but there's very few balloons that are actually inflated. You'll see like the stars, the candy canes, but the ones that you want to see like everyone loved bluey last year and spongebob was also a popular one those got inflated towards the afternoon which then got more crowded but this tradition of balloons was actually started not it wasn't the the balloons really weren't part of the first ever macy's parade you know that i did not know they didn't come until 1927 so it turns out the parade started in 1924.

19:15And if you're ever walking on Central Park West, right outside the New York Historical Society, you're going to see a plaque on the sidewalk that commemorates - I didn't know this. The start of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And the route was a lot longer than what it is today. So today it's like 2.5 miles from the American Museum of Natural History down to Macy's Herald Square. It originally started on 145th Street in Harlem. Holy moly. Yeah. Look at Jay. He's like, he's laughing. Walking all the way down to Herald Square. And there was no balloons. There was floats. And then there was also animals borrowed from Central Park Zoo.

19:53So could you imagine just like walking out? Basically from Harlem to Herald Square, you have elephants. You have, I'm assuming there was probably, what other animals? Monkeys? I don't know. Because there was that. There was elephants. I'm kidding. Lion? No, I cannot imagine a lion in the streets of the city. I mean, obviously, that would be pretty cool, but I don't think. Yeah. So they borrowed all the animals from the Central Park, too. So it starts at 81st Street now, or 79th. Yeah. And you're saying it started at 145th. Yes. That's insane. And it wasn't called. That's why we're, I live. Yeah.

20:30And it wasn't originally called the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was more of a Christmas parade. And of course, at the end, you had Santa Claus kind of ushering in the holidays. season, but there, it was such a success that Macy's said they were going to do it the following year. And it really kind of started as a, appreciate a parade to appreciate the employees and more of a publicity stunt. It wasn't for like an American tradition, um, which is kind of funny, but that, I think there was like 250 ,000 people that lined the streets to see the parade. The first time, the first year. That's insane.

21:06And since then, it's happened 98 times. Now, keep in mind, 1924, we're at 2024. You would think it's the 100th anniversary, but during World War II, there was a pause on the parade because of helium and then rubber. There was restrictions on that. There was because of the war. You're a plethora of knowledge. As I said, there's little knowledge in here that I just kind of pull out. My brain's like a roller deck. Yeah. Like just, we're going to go to Thanksgiving, Macy's, take out the index card, and everyone's in there. Okay, keep going. Okay. So there was no balloons. The first balloon was Felix the Cat, 1927.

21:47That's cool. Now, today these balloons are designed for the helium to come out, which is great, right? But the original ones did not have a vial. So what they had to do is they released it at the end. You got to 34th Street. What are you going to do with these balloons? they release it and there's actually a tag on these balloons that if someone finds it bring it to macy's and you'll get a gift card i think it was like a hundred dollar gift card back then yeah that's a lot of money then exactly and now do this caused fights between neighbors on long island because one landed on someone's property and this other person went tried to take it and there was one that fell into the river there was another one that landed on a farm and this is when the tradition stopped one actually i think got caught up in a plane and that wasn't yeah that wasn't a good thing so that tradition eventually stopped was there an accident or something i think there was i should have a double double check you know but um it was it's like a quirky tradition you know what's interesting so being in the parade every year at the end when we end we pass Macy's and then you know we go to the side what street is that 7th Avenue we turn up and then all the we take all the balloons there and we have to deflate them and so we bring them all down and we all have to this you know 100 of us or whatever so we all lay on the balloon oh it's like a bouncy house exactly we bring it down and you know there's like big what's it called like areas where there's velcro they open them and then but you can't stand too close to it because you get the helium in your face oh so then you're you're supposed to get a very high yeah yeah so you got to be careful and then to have us all there's everybody on that you know balloon we all lay on it towards the end and we're trying to get all the helium out it's kind of interesting you know i always wondered what happened after it reached macy's and then well then we roll it up like a tootsie roll seriously and then we put it in a this huge like looks like a laundry bin and then we were they roll it off and it's like nothing has ever happened yeah like my huge you know 80 foot balloon or whatever i don't even know the size of them is now in a laundry bucket or a laundry cart you know so it's like a hotel laundry cart or something and they actually do you know where jay i did not know that it's it's really amazing to see that this is so fun to talk i always want to see if they're if they post any videos online like spectators because that's one part of the parade you never see online of the deflation of the balloon right and i find that i mean i love the behind the scenes of stuff so that would be so cool to see well actually it's you know we have our press passes so it's easy i've taken pictures and stuff you know actually when i was in the parade i would take pictures too of us laying on it i gotta find them and maybe i'll post them yes that'd be really cool it's fun okay john so now let's talk about the floats give us information about the floats yeah so this year there's seven new floats.

24:49Two of them are actually New York related, which is really cool. One is honoring the Bronx Zoo. That is cool. Other one is honoring Rayo's. Oh, yeah. I know. Rayo's Homemade has their own float. And all of their own pasta sauce now. I know. I can go for a nice panela vodka. Yeah, me too. So they make all their floats and even their balloons at their Macy's studio in Munaki, New Jersey, which is around a 40 minute train ride from Midtown. And it's so cool to go there because you see their designs, their drawings, their renderings come to life. And it is a giant warehouse where part of it, you have all the floats set up.

25:32They usually do a media day, which is the week before Thanksgiving. They preview the new ones. And then they take you into the area where they actually paint a lot of the balloons and a lot of a lot of the float parts so it it feels like this is the true behind the scenes of where the magic happens for the parade and it is so it's so cool to see but now you're trying to figure out how do you get from new jersey to the upper west side bringing these floats that you're not going to bring them over the bridge so they are all collapsed so they're all really taken apart and basically folded down. And some are then rebuilt with giant cranes and machinery right outside the museum.

26:17But they do this the day before the balloon inflation and during the balloon inflation. They load up everything and it's like a caravan of Macy's trucks of the floats. I'd love to see that. And they get parked. So when you're actually doing the balloon inflation, you're going to see that. You'll see in the front of the American Zoo of Natural History. A lot of the floats being created. Of course, the first one is Tom the Turkey. Yeah. He's always the first one. And then up all along Central Park West, that is where they build the floats. And they do the balloons on the side streets. That's very cool.

26:54So some people, depending on, again, what time you go, you can see a lot of the floats being constructed on top of seeing the balloons being inflated. Speaking of the floats and balloons again, real quick, I'm going to go back to the balloons. because my first year in the parade, I was one of the stars, you know, those little stars I was talking about a little bit earlier. And so it's just a few of us, but it's right. These stars are the ones right in front of Santa, which is at the end of the parade. So it was my first experience in the parade. And you know, Santa is the star of the parade. I mean, it was nothing but, I mean, screaming and yelling and my ears had to be covered basically because it was so loud, but it was such an amazing experience because the energy from everyone in the parade was just incredible because here's the end of the parade and there's Santa and his huge sleigh who's the star of the show it is it was I can't even explain the feeling it was so surreal like I was out of a body experience that is and then when we went down and turned at 34th street in front of Macy's with Santa right behind us we're with Santa and so all the rock cats are there all the graffitis going off the music.

28:03I'm not kidding. Everything in my brain was slow motion. It was the craziest, most amazing experience of my life. And then I tried to actually high five one of the Rockettes, but I didn't know you couldn't do that. And somebody caught me right. I was just trying to be cool. I thought, you know, it was my first year in the parade and this guy's like, don't do it. You can't do that. You know, I'm like, okay, whatever. You know that, I mean, for that to be your first, the parade experience can't be topped. No, I, that's, I will never forget it. There is just something when Santa comes down 34th Street or wherever, if even if you're just watching the parade, like in real life, right.

28:36When Santa passes, it's you, your inner child just comes out. You get so excited. Yeah. And I get it. And for you to be a part of it and then seeing everyone's reaction as, as Santa passes, the crowd is going bonkers when Santa is going by them. And you know, the kids are just so much joy. it's just such a cool experience and then just to say you know hey happy thanksgiving like in the in the when i was doing the the balloons after that a few years so we were ahead of santa for a while so we could talk to the audience or wave to them and say happy thanksgiving the whole crowd is so happy and joyous and it's you just say happy thanksgiving everybody and everybody yells happy thanksgiving and it's just it's a really cool experience you gotta do it john i so i've went to the grandstands one year and that was that was a lot of you can tell the people in the parade are having so much joy like there's i will not forget this there was this little girl that was sitting in the front row of the grandstands and every clown or every person that was in a costume that had confetti would throw the confetti at her and she like we kind we were a little jealous not gonna lie not gonna lie it was a couple years ago but yeah that would be too but she got so excited and the people there were just yeah they were just they were just so happy to be part of it yeah people from all over the world you know it's a huge deal yeah have you ever so you've marched in it but have you ever seen it in person like just like as a spectator yes yep i have i's actually my friend marco and i from my christmas to new york that you guys know he and I got there at four.

30:23Well, to be, to bring this up real quick, you have to be there at 4am. I recommend as a guest, you know, standing on the sidelines, what time do you think they should be there? So, okay. I agree. Four o 'clock in the morning. If you are not, if you do not have grandstand tickets, be there early. Now, if you are one of the lucky ones that do get a grandstand ticket there is a special entrance and i think i had to get there at 6 a.m i've done that one too now 6 6 a.m the parade doesn't start until 9 it's a long gap it is um how do you get these grandstand tickets i got it from my good friend barbara from candlelighters new york city the uh you know she's she's amazing she she works with um children with cancer and their families she's an incredible human being and they get these tickets too and i i went one year with them One of my friends who was another content creator, she couldn't go.

31:16She was traveling to see her family unexpectedly. And I said, I would love to take them if they're still available. So she just gave me the grandstand tickets. I don't know how people get them. That mine was a gift as well. And if anyone can get them. Yeah, I think it's you enjoy them. You got to know someone who knows someone. Yeah, I think it's like someone with Macy's or with the production team. But on it, like they have strict, like no coolers, no backpacks. Exactly. They do say no food and no drinks. Like there's some, you can bring something because again, it's early in the morning. So you kind of need to eat something.