Demonstrators protest along Thanksgiving parade route; 7 arrests

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN (WABC) -- At least seven people were arrested on Sixth Avenue at West 37th Street as they protested the decision in Ferguson along the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade route Thursday.

They were taken to a precinct in Lower Manhattan for processing and charge with disorderly conduct.

The parade was not disrupted.

The remaining protesters returned to the area of the New York Public Library, where they originally gathered Thursday morning.

"We have a significant number of police," NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said. "We will not tolerate, under any circumstances, any effort to disrupt this parade. This is a national event, a historic event. Anybody who would seek to interrupt it would be callous, indeed, on this very special day."

The NYPD said this week's New York City protests against the grand jury decision in Missouri were factored into the deployment of officers for the parade.

On internet postings, demonstrators said they were not planning on "interrupting the march," but instead are "making a statement in the crowds."