Daily News from New York, New York • 133

ent Advertising: Supplorne 7 rival CBS program, "The Thanksgiving Parade Jubilee." Ed McMahon enjoyed a run as host in the "70s, and "Today Show" weatherman Willard Scott signed on in the late '80s. He teamed up with Katie Couric in 1992. Meanwhile, Macy's talent coordinators have displayed a knack in recent years for choosing performers just about to make it really big. This year, O-Town is the hot teen band in the DIANA ROSS rides the Daily News' Big Apple float in 1979. parade lineup.

"The people at Macy's are geniuses. They're star makers," says Bob Grippo, a Long Islander writing a history of the Macy's parade. That said, what impresses him most is that despite the Hollywood buzz and glitz, the parade itself remains the star attraction. huge importance. Lome Greene, the big daddy of "Bonanza," teamed up with Betty White as NBC parade commentator in 1963 and continued in that role for nine years.

Meanwhile, Betty's husband, Allen Ludden, and former Miss America Bess Myerson cohosted the 0-TOWN is the hot teen band in the parade lineup this year. Balloon's-eye Views In hotel rooms, apartments and offices on the parade route, spectators revel in an annual ritual What she planned as a once-in-a-lifetime treat is now an annual holiday tradition for Andrea Comai: viewing the Macy's parade from the windows of a deluxe hotel room. For the fourth year straight, Comai has a reservation to spend Thanksgiving Eve at the Novotel New York, this time in a front room on the 17th floor. Watching the parade from ahigh was so much fun the first time she did it, it's become an annual ritual, and Comai invites a couple of friends or relatives to join her. "I love the ambience and the view.

This way, I can have my coffee, a continental breakfast and a mimosa," says Comai, who lives in Paramus, N.J. "My family can go out and mingle with the crowd if they choose, but I prefer to stay inside. I like seeing the balloons at eye level." She also likes the music and the crowd noise, so she opens the window to be part of it. Hotels along the parade route command top dollar on Thanksgiving and usually get booked months in advance. "When they are checking out, some guests ask to reserve the same rooms for the following year," says Kay Koot, general manager of the Novotel on W.

52nd St. The Novotel rooms, which overlook Broadway or provide a vista down to Times Square, go for $319 a night at parade time, with a two-night minimum, says Koot. The Renaissance on Seventh Ave. starts taking reservations in January for its 22 rooms facing the parade route. The place is booked solid months before the mega celebration, despite the $500 a night Turkey Day tab, says Kathy Duffy, director of public relations.

Restaurants overlooking the holiday extravaganza offer choice seating too. The $75 a person breakfast buffet at the Marriott Marquis' Broadway Lounge was sold out last month, and most years the Novotel's brunch is booked a solid five months in advance. The seventh-floor restaurant terrace runs around the building exterior "so balloons are seemingly within touching distance of the kids," notes Koot. Other popular hotels with views include the Mayflower on the Park, Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Ameritania and Trump International. Trade Holder counts herself lucky to have a friend living in the Dakota, the landmark building on the comer of W.

72nd St and Central Park West The large windows and terraces of her friend's sixth-floor apartment offer a fantastic panorama of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and FAMILIES gather at office building on Broadway for their front-row seat "It's a wonderful perspective, looking down on this rainbow of color," says Holder, a filmmaker. "He invites lots of friends and their children to gather bright and early to share in this very festive event. It's fun to see the balloons from above." From intimate get-togethers in studio apartments to large brunches in sprawling office suites, it's safe to say the route from 77th St. to 34th St. is a 2V6-mile-long parade party.

Inspired by the festival of floats and balloons, New Yorkers with big hearts and dynamite parade views open their doors to friends and family on this day of thanks and celebration. Breakfast at Grandma's becomes extra special when you're eyeball to eyeball with the Barney balloon, and Margaret Witt's ninth-floor apartment at 80 Central Park West provides her four grandsons with choice viewing. "The balloon characters are their favorite part," says Witt, who also takes the youngsters to watch the balloon inflation on W. 77th St. the night before the parade.

Those with window seats say the sight UP CLOSE: Guests at the Marriott Marquis watch parade. po makes an indelible impression. "The first time I saw this I went out of my mind," recalls Nancy Margolis, who moved from Maine to 115 Central Park West four years ago. She and her children had watched the parade on TV for years, and to have it right out side her windows is a thrill. "What's wonderful is the feeling in the crowd.

It's great to see," says Margolis. Holder savors every aspect of the parade, down to the confetti sprinkled in the street. "The orchestration of the cleanup is like a ballet. The city does a superb job in an incredibly short time," she notes. he happily shares his prime viewing location each year.

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