Tens of thousands take part in Celebrate Israel Parade in New York, more than a million line up the route

Security was tight amid concerns about avoiding a possible Muslim terrorist attack. But it was fun, and even Anthony showed up with his Weiner.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Tens of thousands of people from the Tri-State Area celebrated the 65th anniversary of the creation of Israel Sunday, at a parade down Fifth Avenue that had some of the tightest security measures ever seen.

As CBS 2 Political reporter Marcia Kramer reported, spirits were high on Fifth Avenue at the 2013 Celebrate Israel Parade. Thousands of children were among the 35,000 marchers who took part, and, 17 bands and 30 floats marched up Fifth Avenue for the annual parade, 1010 WINS’ Glenn Schuck reported.

More than a million flag-waving spectators lined the parade route, CBS 2′s Janelle Burrell reported.

“Everyone feels so connected. Nobody even knows each other really but everyone just feels united and connected,” one woman told Schuck.

“We love Israel!” some paradegoers shouted.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the mayoral hopefuls were all on hand for the celebration of Israel.

“Everyone feels so connected. Nobody even knows each other really but everyone just feels united and connected,” one woman told Schuck.

“We love Israel!” some paradegoers shouted.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the mayoral hopefuls were all on hand for the celebration of Israel.

The NYPD put in place an amazing array of security initiatives, including police helicopters with special sensors to detect radiation on the ground, a counterterrorism car with a 360-degree camera to search for suspicious packages, and bomb-sniffing dogs all along the route to check for explosives on parade watchers.

Video cameras mounted in the NYPD’s Eyes in the Sky were used to send a continuous feed to the Security Coordination Center.

And a new double-barricade system was also in place, with an extra lane on each side of the street between participants and spectators. The new chasm made it nearly impossible for politicians to do the grab-hands act with paradegoers.

There were also a lot of extra police officers, in uniform and plain clothes.

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