After Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election in early November 2025, a rumor began circulating online that Macy’s was canceling its annual Thanksgiving parade because the mayor-elect wanted to charge the department store $10 million to use Fifth Avenue.
For example, the Facebook page America’s Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) posted a meme with text reading (archived):
New Yorkers are regretting their votes after Macy’s announces the end of 125 years of Thanksgiving tradition.
“Mayor-Elect Mamdani wants us to pay $10 million to rent 5th Avenue for three hours,” said Macy’s CEO Joseph A Barron, “We’d have to charge admission.”
The post’s caption added that the CEO allegedly said he was “completely blindsided” by the proposal, which ALLOD described as a “plan to turn the annual Thanksgiving Parade into a fundraiser for [Mamdani’s] socialist projects.”
The pinned comment under the post said Barron’s spokesman also happened to be Joe Barron, further confusing the issue:
“The parade comes down 6th,” said Joe Barron’s Spokesman, who also happens to be Joe Barron, “So is this just like…some kind of kickback? Like ‘Hey…yo…give us a duffle bag full of cash for 5th and we won’t break your legs’ kind of thing?”
ALLOD also posted a similar Facebook Reel that had amassed more than 15,000 likes as of this writing.
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events, but multiple searches online produced no evidence that Macy’s had canceled its parade. As of this writing, the store’s website had a countdown clock to the event, showing it was set to go ahead (archived).
Rather, the rumor originated with ALLOD, which describes its output as satirical. Its Facebook Intro featured a disclaimer reading: “The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery and propaganda for cash. Nothing on this page is real.” Its meme also contained a “satire” label in the bottom right corner.
ALLOD has a history of making up stories for shares and comments.
Aside from Macy’s website showing the event still going ahead, there were several other clues indicating the story was fake. For example, Mamdani would not be taking office as mayor until Jan. 1, 2026; therefore, he would not have the power to charge Macy’s $10 million to use Fifth Avenue for the 2025 Thanksgiving parade.
Further, the route for the parade did not include Fifth Avenue. As of this writing, it is set to start on Central Park West at 77th Street, by the American Museum of Natural History. It follows Central Park West to Columbus Circle, then it goes east on Central Park South and turns right on Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas. It is set to end on 34th Street, outside the Macy’s department store.
Finally, Macy’s CEO is Tony Spring, not Joseph A Barron, as the meme claimed. The social media network has referenced this fictional character’s name in multiple other claims Snopes has previously debunked.
The mention of a man named Barron appeared to be a nod to an alias U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly used when he conducted business in New York City in the 1980s. At the time, Trump called journalists sometimes pretending to be a Trump Organization spokesman named John Barron (sometimes spelled “Baron”; another name he reportedly used was John Miller). In 2018, CNN shared a recording of one of Barron’s calls.
Snopes has previously fact-checked numerous ALLOD claims, including a rumor about supposed mass resignations from the New York Police Department following Mamdani’s election victory.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
