CNN
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When photographer Elizabeth Kahane’s husband asked where they should live in New York after their engagement in 1998, she had a very specific wish for their marital home: a view of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“It’s so funny to look back and see why it was so important to me and why that was my answer. But believe me, it was,” Kahane, a self-proclaimed parade enthusiast, said during a video call. “I love it so much.”

The couple moved to a third-floor apartment on the corner of Central Park West and 64th Street. The street-facing windows provided the perfect vantage point to watch (and photograph) the procession as it travels through downtown Manhattan to Macy’s department store on Thanksgiving morning. The photographer has captured the spectacle almost every year since, missing the parade only twice in more than a quarter of a century.

Kahane’s images, 160 of which appear in her new book “Come Join the Parade,” show marching bands, pom-pom-waving cheerleaders, themed floats and some of the millions of spectators lining the streets. These small human figures give a sense of scale to the real stars of the photos: the iconic, giant balloons.

SpongeBob SquarePants looks manically down at the crowd below him; the Grinch, accompanied by his faithful dog Max, stares menacingly ahead. Thomas the Tank Engine, the Kool-Aid Man and Boss Baby are just a few of the dozens of other outsized characters Kahane has imagined slowly passing by her house – often at eye level.

The images are made possible by a daring technique that the photographer describes as ‘one foot in, one foot out’.

“You’re not going to get that photo of Kermit if you’re not hanging out the window,” she said, explaining that windy conditions can actually be beneficial because the balloons are lowered and thus “look like they’re walking down the street.”

“I’m careful – and I have a flower box there, so that gives me a sense of safety and security,” she added.

Watching the parade go by is something of a family tradition in the Kahane household.

In the days before Thanksgiving, the photographer books a window cleaner to ensure a pristine view and orders lox and bagels from her favorite deli. When her son was younger, she invited his friends and their families to enjoy the show. But Kahane always hid in the bedroom, making sure her risky photography style wouldn’t set a dangerous example for her child (who is now 23 and contributed an essay to her book).

“I have a separate room, so I would hang out the window there and then run back in (to the living room), because I’m just north of them, to announce who’s coming next,” she explained.

Some photos were taken from inside the apartment, with children enjoying the surreal view of the parade characters – from Sonic the Hedgehog to Pikachu, happily riding a Poké Ball-inspired sled – looming outside.

They weren’t the only ones who got excited. “I’m like a kid,” Kahane said of her enthusiasm on Thanksgiving mornings. “I’ve had friends come over and look at me like I was a crazy person.”

The annual parade was first organized in 1924 by Macy’s employees, many of whom were first-generation European immigrants, to celebrate the company’s new flagship store. It is now a fixture of both New York life and national television, attracting a record TV viewership of 28.5 million last year.

Although 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the inaugural procession, the department store considers this Thursday’s parade to be its 98th, due to several postponements during World War II.

The Covid-19 pandemic couldn’t even stop the parade altogether, although it was reorganized as a televised-only event in 2020. A shortened route kept the floats from passing by Kahane’s apartment that year, with the rare intermission prompting her decision to search through her archive and curate a selection for publication.

But the photographer insists she didn’t take the photos with this in mind. “All the years I’ve been doing this, it wasn’t because I set out to do a book, or a show, or anything like that,” she said. “It’s just what I do.”

Her archive shows that the parade is a kind of who’s who of pop culture. The balloons are retired every few years – and while classic characters often return in new guises, like Snoopy and Ronald McDonald, new favorites are added every year. Kahane said having children often helped her identify some of the more zeitgeisty additions to recent lineups, such as Australian animation dog Bluey, which debuted in 2022.

“Photography can capture a moment,” she reflected on the changing culture the images document. “It’s a moment in time and it’s a nice, beautiful way to enjoy it because it won’t happen again.”

New balloons at this year’s parade include Gabby from Netflix’s “Gabby’s Dollhouse” and Marshall, a Dalmatian firefighter from “Paw Patrol.” As always, Kahane will be there, dangling out of her window as they pass by.

“I just noticed that the building to my left has scaffolding, so that will obscure the view,” she said. ‘Now I’ve done it Real gotta hang out!”

“Come join the parade‘is now available.