inflated right now on the upper west side of manhattan. within the hour, mayor de blasio and commissioner bratton reassuring people they're safe despite the heightened terror concerns. >> we have several reports on the parade security, airport getaway and the weather. we begin with eyewitness news reporter tim fleischer on the upper west side. >> here's this great balloon inflate, thousands and thousands of people have been coming here all afternoon long and they continue to come here. you can see them flock down on 7th street. also in that crowd, out here on the perimeter of central park west, this is where police are having a much heavier impact and greater influence. >> reporter: the numbers of nypd officers are greater at this run up to the macy's thanksgiving day parade where thousands come to see the balloons inflated than ever before. >> we've got to be on our toes. >> reporter: role l call --roll call

different this time for these nypd officers. >> take a look at suspicious packages. >> reporter: security this year after the paris attacks is much tighter and with the city on a higher alert, there are more officers on the streets. >> i'd also encourage people as they come to this parade to really enjoy. it's a way of pushing back on some of the events going on around the world where there's efforts being made to intimidate. this city cannot be intimidated. >> reporter: with the added police presence, out of town visitors like michael wheeler and his family feel safer. >> i've never been to the parade before so i can't say i know what it compares to but seems like there's a lot of security in place. >> reporter: all ruled out is the new critical response command. up to 500 heavily armed and highly trained officers headed to the antiterrorism unit. the elite hercules teams are able to strike very quickly. >> i feel safer here than probably most places. >> reporter: rebecca eastman and her husband from california.

>> if anything were to happen it's good to know people are around to do the best they can. >> reporter: as thousands of people move along to see the giant balloons inflated, hammer, one of several bomb sniffing dogs, was also working. they're using radiation detection devices able to detect a dirty bomb. >> new yorkers don't get intimidated. in this holiday season you see the response of the people of new york city. they're out here in droves. >> they have been coming out in droves all afternoon long. the mayor, the police commissioner stressing it is safe. they want people to go about their lives and to come out and enjoy this thanksgiving day event. reporting live on the upper west side, tim fleischer, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> we're going to have more on the balloon inflation with our special surprise correspondent later in the newscast. right now we want to talk about the weather. last year, remember snow in much of the area. different story this time around.

>> the busiest travel day of the year turning out to be one of the quietest weather days of the entire year. we've seen throngs of people heading up columbus avenue to that balloon inflation and they have nice weather to greet them this evening. clear skies, calm winds, temperatures in the mid 40s, right about on target for this time of year. right now that temperature 45 in central park. empire state building lit up in the fall thanksgiving colors. at central park, if you're heading up to that balloon inflation, temperatures gradually falling through the evening. we're down to 44 by midnight. tomorrow morning. of course tomorrow all eyes on the parade. tomorrow is going to feel a whole lot different. it's going to be milder but also cloudier. maybe sunshine to start at 7:00 chilly. 41. you need to bundle up if you're to start. 48 by start time. 56 by noon time despite the cloud cover and i think we get in to the upper 50s by later on in the there's the wind coming off the atlantic ocean helping to bring in the clouds from that direction.

tomorrow is going to be mild but wait till you see the high temperatures on friday for the shoppers out there trying to get those bargains. we'll have that accuweather 7-day forecast coming up a little bit later in the half hour. more than three and a half million americans are traveling to their destination for thanksgiving. a live map right now of all the flights that are in the air. not much empty space there at all. kemberly richardson is at laguardia airport where it looks a lot calmer behind you. >> there may be a lot of busy air space but it's really quiet here. we've been out here all day tracking things. the terminal is pretty slow. what is the mood and the feeling? their bags are packed and they're prepared to take off. >> i believe i'm taken care of. i believe god is going to take care of me. >> reporter: faith overriding fear. though somewhat nervous, many people here at laguardia

airport today refused to change their flights despite a worldwide travel alert. law enforcement is on watch as people like crystal move from point a to point b. >> they have done the drill numerous times so i believe these airports nation. >> reporter: the lines seemed longer and were a bit slower here at security where experts say tsa agents are focusing now more than ever on liquids, the group claiming it took down a people. the terrorists maintain they used a soda can to make the bomb. all of that and other recent attacks were enough to somewhat rattle. >> i definitely didn't take the subway to get here. i was a little bit worried about that. >> reporter: her flight out west today -- >> i'm flying in to orange county instead of l.a. so i'm avoiding l.a. as well. >> reporter: most here did not alter their plans. officials expect 3% more people to fly

highest since 2007. >> initially i was nervous about it but i realized if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. >> reporter: last check at the misery map showing delays and cancellations across the nation, looks like smooth sailing as folks head to -- >> columbia, south carolina. >> toronto . >> memphis. >> we're headed to charlotte, north carolina. >> i'm headed to tennessee then las vegas. >> i'm headed to the upper west side. things are pretty slow here. but that last final push before dinner is on the table tomorrow morning, you may see some of those last minute travelers. happy thanksgiving. for now we're live in laguardia, kemberly richardson, channel 7 eyewitness news. a developing story, yet another accident involving a new york city bus and pedestrian. this time it happened in brooklyn. the mta confirming to us a bm1 bus hitting a man on ocean avenue. happened this afternoon in the midwood. section the man was taken to the hospital. this victim, the fourth pedestrian hit by an mta

bus in the last month. a bizarre home invasion in queens. not only was the home owner in the house at the time, just feet away from the burglar and it's all caught on camera. eyewitness news reporter jim dolan with the story in flushing >> this is scary. this happened last wednesday about the resident in this apartment sound take a look at the surveillance video. you see the suspect first out on the street and then you see him briefly coming inside the home but take a look at this. the owner had a camera rolling in his bedroom and you can see the suspect on his knees crawling to owner's cell phone. the suspect is described as 6'2" tall, about 200 pounds. the snow cap, the diamond on it. the resident of the apartment woke up when that

guy was on his knees in the bedroom stealing the phone. the suspect ran away with the victim's cell phone. this happened about 2:20 in the morning. the suspect got away, obviously police are looking for that guy. they're hoping anybody who recognizes him or his clothes, he had that distinctive cap on that had the word diamond on it. police hoping anyone who recognizes him will call them immediately with information about who that person is. obviously this could have gone very badly for the resident and if the burglar had not run at that time so police hoping to get this guy quickly. reporting live from flushing, jim dolan, channel 7 eyewitness news. as we continue with eyewitness news at 6:00 on this wednesday night, mayor de blasio couldn't get the city council to ban horse carriage rides so now he's looking at a new plan to reduce them significantly. >> a little later, an annual eyewitness news tradition. our very special correspondent. the

child of an eyewitness news reporter reports on the balloon

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pa new at 6:00, he wanted to ban the controversial horse drawn carriages in central park, but having lost, mayor de blasio trying a new approach. >> the mayor wants to drastically cut the number of cabs. we mean by 75%. >> does it really have a

chance, this round two? here's political reporter dave evans. >> it's a campaign promise a lot of new yorkers won't let the mayor forget. to ban all carriage horses in new york city on day 1. but two years in to office, the mayor is now offering a compromise, not a ban, but far fewer horses. >> we lose jobs. >> you wouldn't like that. >> of course not. i don't think that's a good idea. we want to leave the way it is by now. >> reporter: carriage drivers don't like the idea and neither really do tourists, especially if we go or 80. >> i think it would hurt tourism and it's nice to not have to wait in line. we walk right up. we can continue our vacation and enjoy the city. >> reporter: the folks pushing for an outright ban are oddly quiet today. maybe that means they could accept a compromise. their statement, our number 1 priority is and always has been

the safety of carriage horses. the mayor certainly wants horses off the street but yesterday he did not sound terribly confident the city council would agree to his compromise. some agreement, i'm not going to comment. >> reporter: this compromise would put the horses inside central park in a stable to be built. that would prevent them from having to travel through traffic where their current stable is now. a lot of people don't like this compromise. at the very least it would help the mayor say he tried to do something about the horses. dave evans, channel 7 eyewitness news. still to come on eyewitness news at 6:00, many our favorite night of the year as we look down at the parade getting ready, the balloons getting blown up. we have our special correspondent down there. the son or daughter of one of our eyewitness news reporters.

right now our favorite eyewitness news thanksgiving eve tradition, covering the balloon inflation, a child of one of our reporters. >> it's one of the best moments

her, here is the parade route. it starts at west 77th, weaves to herald square, right in front of macy's for the second year in a row. >> the second year in a row, isabel, daughter of michelle charlesworth, covering the they're both there for us. take it away, gals. >> we've had so much fun. isabel, take it away. you're the big reporter. go for it. go talk to trey and jackson. >> hi, trey. what's your favorite balloon? >> my balloon has to be the squirrel from ice age. it's huge. >> thanks. hi, jackson. what's your favorite balloon? >> well, my favorite is the one from sky landers over there. rupter. >> that's awesome. >> we do a lot of stuff with the balloons so let's take a look. >> there's 17 balloons which are held down by sacks of sand to make sure they won't fly away. >> hi, guys. i'm isabel

and these are all the 17 balloons. and it looks like today they're having a good day and every balloon is for all the people welcome to watch them. hi, what's your favorite balloon? leading balloon. >> the squirrel? >> yeah. >> that's cool. >> everybody yell out your favorite balloon. liked snoopy. what's your favorite balloon? >> why do you like snoopy? >> because he is a dog and i love dogs. >> the balloons are really big and they're real and they're full of helium. >> there are lots of people who love these awesome balloons. they are huge, giant, ginormous balloons. >> do you know why they have a net over them? >> so they don't fly away. >> that's my favorite balloon. >> who one is that one, beanie?

>> it's age. >> hello kitty. >> cool, i like hello kitty. why do you like hello kitty? >> because she's my favorite cartoon. >> you chin. get the cookie off you. >> my favorite balloon is the power ranger but last year it was the spiderman. >> happy thanksgiving! >> coming back to a live picture. >> hell o kitty! >> i'm just very happy that i time. thanks for being with us. thanksgiving! we are live from 77th street in new york city, manhattan. we made it >> [ applause ] that's not the last time. isabel is coming back next year. thanks, guys. that was just awesome. >> >> we

all are. >> next year you'll see her somewhere down the line in front of a camera i'm sure. meanwhile the entire upper west side is just an absolute buzz and the weather couldn't be more perfect. >> it's so great out here. everyone has got a little spring in their step. it's a crisp cool thanksgiving eve like it should be this time of the year. going to get milder during the day tomorrow and down right warm as we head in to the day on friday. a live look over toward the empire state building lit up in pretty l.e.d. lights for thanksgiving. temperature, 45. that wind is actually calm. this is perfect weather for the balloon inflation and perfect weather for the parade tomorrow. typically when you have winds above 25 miles per hour, they can't put up those large character balloons but they'll easily be able to do it tomorrow. normal high this time of year, 50. that's what we got up to during the day today. we were right on target. milder tomorrow. but a cloudier day. i think 38 at parade start around 9 a.m. we get up to 58

it's a balmy breeze on friday. some sun and mid 60s. we could be approaching records in parts of the area. showers i think show up late friday night lasting in to early saturday morning. part of the area will try to clear out during the day saturday. 46. no weather delays at the major hubs. 44 your temperature at jfk. temperatures falling off quickly in to the lower and middle 30s and also down to the south in mark. high pressure and control over new england giving us the fair weather this evening. clockwise flow around it is going to grab some of these clouds offshore and help bring them in to toward the coast. during the day tomorrow. in the meantime, getting down to 41 overnight in the park. back up to 59 during the day tomorrow. even warmer ahead of this front. breezy out there. the high

accuweather forecast for tonight, clear to partly cloudy. we're down to 41, midtown. 30s in many of the suburbs. we'll call it variably limited milder. up to about 59 but 48 at the start of the parade. partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. mild. 51. warm, 64. rain coming in saturday. cloudy with a little bit of morning rain saturday afternoon. then as we head in to the second half of the weekend, another system will try to move off to our south. could be rain skimming areas of central new jersey.

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om one of those weekends for our local pro football teams, they've got to win those games.

>> they kind of both have to get their wins and got to get them this week. the jets get set for one more sunday at home against the dolphins. it's a rematch of their october tussle in london. the jets won that one 27-14. this one figures to be closer. the jets have lost four of their last five games. banged up too. revis didn't practice today and fitzpatrick is still hurting. playing a division opponent. today a distraction. that oh, so glorious civil war era beard. >> i don't know. seemed like it was time. switch up the mojo a little bit. >> it's difficult to see a good beard go down. but obviously he's a fighter. he'll get back up, continue to work on his growth. >> work on his growth. [ laughter ] giants get the redskins after a week off on top of their division at 5-5. one-game lead.

six to go . all the goals are right there. this week will not be easy. washington has won five on the road. but 4-1 on the road. >> one game at a time. this is the most important game of the year right here in the division. >> they're all critical. whether we win this one or don't, every game from now on is going to be important. st. louis rams receiver stedman bailey critically wounded last night, shot as he sat with four others in the miami area. he's been operated on. he's critical but stable. police still look ing for suspects. the rams say they're gathering facts as well. bailey is currently suspended for violating the nfl's drug policy. the family of the late frank giffords says signs of traumatic encephalopathy were found in his brain after his death. a disease linked to repeated brain trauma. this big hit against the eagles, 1960, one of the hardest gifford went

through. his family, even frank himself had suspicions of this confirmed after research. family having his brain examined to advance the study. in hawaii this afternoon, the st. john's season continued. a 7th place host from chaminade. 71% from the field. finished at over 59%. mussini, the italian freshman. 24 points. st. john's as a team hit 10 3-pointers. it's a win in maui. 100-93. the record 4-2, setting up that big game at fordham next week. on the schedule tonight, all three hockey locals skate on home ice. the rangers and canadians at the garden. top two records in the east. basketball tonight, nets in oklahoma city. the knicks are in orlando. the warriors play at phoenix friday. the unbeaten warriors. they won again last night. 111-77 route of the

lakers. now 16-0 setting the nba record for wins to start the season. the warriors didn't celebrate a lot, saying we're going to lose sometime. the defending nba champs are still unbeaten this season. >> wow, can you imagine? heck of a time to take a look at some of the stories we're working on for eyewitness news at 7:00. >> coming up tonight at 11:00, we're going to be keeping a holiday getaway. a new flu vaccine approved for seniors. we'll tell you what makes the one thing different. we'll have those stories and much more coming up on eyewitness news at 11:00. >> that's it for us for now. thanks for watching. i'm bill ritter. >> i'm liz cho. world news is coming up next. we leave you tonight with the pictures of the balloons being blown up here on the upper west side all getting ready for the big macy's day thanksgiving parade. we wish