At least they recycle. Along the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade route in New York on Thursday, long, white strips of confetti blew into the crowd. On one was a Social Security number. Other strips fluttered about – and on them were bits of information – some seemingly trivial, others possibly sensitive.  

Ethan Finkelstein, 18, told WPIX that a strip landed on his friend’s jacket at West 65th Street and Central Park West. Finkelstein, a New Yorker, is a freshman at Tufts University near Boston.  

“It landed on her shoulder, and she looked and it and it says, SSN and there’s a number that’s written like a Social Security number,” Finkelstein told WPIX. “And we’re like, that’s really bizarre.”

There were phone numbers, license plate numbers of undercover detectives – even information about former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s motorcade as he left Hofstra University, where he and President Barack Obama sparred at a town hall debate.

A partial seal on one of the confetti strips indicated that the records came from the Nassau County Police Department.  

"The Nassau County Police Department is very concerned about this situation," police spokesman Insp. Kenneth Lack said in a statement, according to Newsday. "We will be conducting an investigation into this matter as well as reviewing our procedures for the disposing of sensitive documents."

Also of note: The confetti, a Macy's official told WPIX, is not official Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade confetti, which is more festive – although just about anything might be more cheery than a shredded police report.  

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