On Thursday, November 26, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marches for the 100th time. It started in 1924, has skipped only the war years of 1942 to 1944, and this year it steps off at 8:30 a.m. with 100 inflatables, the most it has ever had. Felix the Cat, the parade’s first-ever character balloon back in 1927, is coming back for it.
Five days later it is December 1, the day a lot of New York leases start. So if your lease ends November 30, moving Thanksgiving week in NYC is not really a choice. It is the calendar.
The good news: it works. We move 365 days a year, Thanksgiving Day included. The trick is knowing which blocks close and when, and which days your building’s office is actually open. So here is Thanksgiving week, day by day, from the point of view of a moving truck.
Moving Thanksgiving week in NYC: the short version
- Most moves never touch the parade. If neither building sits on the Upper West Side blocks around the Museum of Natural History or on the route, and the truck does not need to cross Midtown’s West Side before mid-afternoon on Thursday, moving Thanksgiving week in NYC is a normal holiday-week move.
- Three things change the plan: a building near the balloons on Wednesday, a building or a route on the parade on Thursday, and a management office that closes for the long weekend.
- The street times below come from the city’s official 2025 closure list, because the 2026 list is not out yet. The route has been the same since 2012, apart from the TV-only 2020 parade, so expect the same streets. The city says the NYPD can change these times, and in 2025 police also closed Columbus Avenue from 72nd to 86th Street and most West 30s side streets near Herald Square on Thursday morning. We will update the times when the city posts this year’s list.
Moving Thanksgiving week in NYC, day by day
Monday, November 23: the easy one
The last ordinary weekday before the holiday. Management offices are open, elevators are easier to book and the streets are normal. If your dates let you choose, choose this one.
Tuesday, November 24: gridlock, and the paperwork deadline
NYC DOT has named it a gridlock alert day, the start of the getaway traffic. Moves still go, just slower in Midtown.
Truck translation: if you are moving Thanksgiving week in NYC, treat Tuesday as the deadline for having the elevator booked and the certificate of insurance approved. Most management offices close Thursday, many stay closed Friday, and some close early on Wednesday.
Wednesday, November 25: the balloons get the Upper West Side
The balloons are inflated on the streets around the American Museum of Natural History. Last year the public viewing ran from 1 to 6 p.m., but the streets close long before that. On the city’s 2025 list, Central Park West from 72nd to 86th Street closed at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, and the side streets from 72nd to 85th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, closed between 2 and 8 a.m. The 79th Street transverse through the park closed at 6 a.m. All of it stayed closed until 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
Truck translation: a building on those blocks is a Tuesday or Friday move. The balloons get those blocks overnight, which is more parking than any moving truck has ever been given on the Upper West Side. West of Columbus Avenue works, but expect crowds on Columbus all afternoon; last year the viewing entrance was at 72nd Street and Columbus. On the 2025 list, two more closed at 9 p.m. Wednesday: Central Park West below 72nd Street, and 34th Street from Fifth to Eighth Avenue.
Thursday, November 26: Thanksgiving and the 100th parade
The parade runs from 8:30 a.m. to about noon on its usual route: down Central Park West from 77th Street to Columbus Circle, east on Central Park South, down Sixth Avenue to 34th Street and over to Macy’s at Herald Square. The city expected more than 3.5 million people along it last year. The closures last longer than the parade. On the 2025 list:
- Central Park South (59th Street) from Fifth Avenue to Columbus Circle: 1 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sixth Avenue from 23rd to 58th Street: from 2 a.m. below 42nd Street and 5 a.m. above it, to 3 p.m.
- Seventh Avenue from 32nd to 42nd Street: 2 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Broadway from 34th to 42nd Street: 2 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- 42nd and 57th Streets from Fifth to Eighth Avenue, and the 65th and 66th Street transverses through the park: 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Alternate side parking is suspended for the holiday, per the city’s 2026 alternate side calendar.
Truck translation: until those streets reopen, plan on no truck crossing Sixth Avenue between 23rd and 58th Street, or Central Park West below 86th. If your route has to get across, we go around it, and we plan that the night before. The East Side, Brooklyn and Queens are a normal holiday. One more catch: many NYC buildings do not allow moves on Thanksgiving Day at all, so ask before you book it.
Friday, November 27: Black Friday at Herald Square
Santaland at Macy’s is expected to open that day, and 34th Street around Herald Square fills up with shoppers. Away from the shopping streets, the day after Thanksgiving is not a city gridlock alert day, so it is usually an easier day for a truck.
Truck translation: a good moving day outside Midtown. In the West 30s, go early. Many management offices are still closed, so the elevator needs to be booked before the holiday.
The weekend, and Monday, November 30
Saturday and Sunday are the last weekend before December 1, and the last days of any month are among the busiest moving days in New York. Some buildings do not allow weekend moves at all. If yours does, book the elevator early. Monday the 30th is the last weekday before the lease turns over, so if you want it, ask early.
Tuesday, December 1, and after
December 1 is a normal Tuesday for a truck. Wednesday, December 2 is the next gridlock alert day, and the Rockefeller Center tree is lit that evening, so Midtown is slow after dark.
If your lease ends November 30
Leases do not read parade schedules. If yours ends November 30 or starts December 1, this is how moving Thanksgiving week in NYC works with us:
- Send us both addresses and both lease dates early. We check every job’s route the night before, and Thanksgiving week we check it against the parade and the balloon blocks too. If your move goes better on another day, we will tell you up front.
- Your building is on the balloon blocks or the route: move before Wednesday, or on Friday. If the dates do not line up, split the move. We load before the holiday, keep everything on our truck overnight and deliver after. That is our overnight service, and it costs extra. Need a longer gap? Our storage holds it and delivers as soon as the next day.
- Book the elevator and get the certificate of insurance approved by Tuesday, November 24. Here is how to reserve a moving elevator in NYC. A COI still waiting when the office closes on Wednesday can wait until Monday.
- Ask about holiday rules. Some buildings do not allow moves on Thanksgiving, the Friday after, or weekends. Find out before you pick the day.
Moving Thanksgiving week in NYC: quick answers
What is the best day to move Thanksgiving week in NYC?
Monday, November 23. Tuesday is next, slower in Midtown because of the gridlock alert. Friday works well outside Midtown, as long as your building’s office booked the elevator before the holiday.
Do movers work on Thanksgiving Day?
We do. We move 365 days a year, so the real question is your building: many NYC buildings do not allow moves on Thanksgiving. If yours says yes and neither address is on the parade side of Manhattan, the roads are usually quiet.
When do the Thanksgiving parade street closures end?
On the city’s 2025 list, most of them reopened at 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Central Park South and Broadway from 34th to 42nd Street stayed closed until 5 p.m., and Seventh Avenue from 32nd to 42nd Street until 8 p.m.
Is moving Thanksgiving week in NYC a bad idea?
No. Most moves never get near the parade. The hard parts are narrow and predictable: the balloon blocks on Wednesday, the route until mid-afternoon on Thursday, and building offices that close for the long weekend. Plan around those three and it is an ordinary move.
Thanksgiving week is the last big closure of the fall, not the only one. Our fall moving calendar has every date that slows a move from September to Thanksgiving, and our guide to moving in NYC in November covers the cold, the early sunsets and heat season.
Get a quote for moving Thanksgiving week in NYC
The fastest way to price a move is a photo or a link. Send us the listing, a few photos of the rooms or links to the big pieces, plus both addresses and your lease dates. We can usually send back a flat rate the same day, with a straight answer on which day of Thanksgiving week works best for your route. Use our free quote form or email info@magicalmovingnyc.com.
Hosting Thanksgiving in the new place too? If you are moving Thanksgiving week in NYC and cooking that Thursday, move by Tuesday. A kitchen still in boxes is a hard place to roast a turkey.
The balloons get Central Park West. We will take the couch.
Magical Moving & Storage, Long Island City. USDOT 4144902.
