Something far more concerning than marching bands, balloons, cheerleaders and clowns was at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade . Confidential personal information is what some paradegoers found among confetti tossed during the world's most famous parade. That information included social security numbers and banking information for police employees, some of whom are undercover officers.Ethan Finkelstein, who was home from college on Thanksgiving break, was watching the parade at 65th Street and Central Park West, when he and a friend noticed a strip of confetti stuck onto her coat."It landed on her shoulder," Finkelstein told PIX11 News, "and it says 'SSN' and it's written like a social security number, and we're like, 'That's really bizarre.'It made the Tufts University freshman concerned, so he and his friends picked up more of the confetti that had fallen around them."There are phone numbers, addresses, more social security numbers, license plate numbers and then we find all these incident reports from police."One confetti strip indicates that it's from an arrest record, and other strips offer more detail. "This is really shocking," Finkelstein said. "It says, 'At 4:30 A.M. a pipe bomb was thrown at a house in the Kings Grant' area."A closer look shows that the documents are from the Nassau County Police Department. The papers were shredded, but clearly not well enough.They even contain information about Mitt Romney 's motorcade, apparently from the final presidential debate, which took place at Hofstra University in Nassau County last month.Most significant, the confetti strips identified Nassau County detectives by name. Some of them are apparently undercover. Their social security numbers, dates of birth and other highly sensitive personal information was also printed on the confetti strips."I'm just completely in shock," said Finkelstein, 18. "How could someone have this kind of information, and how could it be distributed at the Thanksgiving Day Parade?"It's a question that PIX11 wanted an answer to as well. The Nassau County Police Department told PIX11, via a written statement from its commanding officer for public information, Inspector Kenneth Lack, "The Nassau County Police Department is very concerned about this situation. We will be conducting an investigation into this matter as well as reviewing our procedures for the disposing of sensitive documents."For its part, the sponsor of the parade, Macy's, told PIX11 News that it uses "commercially manufactured, multicolor confetti, not shredded paper."It appears that the confetti strips are shredded police documents. Where they came from is still a mystery, but the people looking into the issue are trained at solving mysteries , and since they have a personal stake in the investigation, it may be more likely to be conclusive. ||||| Photo 
 
 Coming to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: the float fracas. 
 
 One controversy involves SeaWorld. The other, the rock singer Joan Jett. 
 
 SeaWorld has a float with penguins, swaying kelp and whales. 
 
 But a new documentary, “Blackfish,” contends that SeaWorld has treated killer whales poorly. 
 
 As of Friday, more than 78,000 people had emailed Macy’s asking that SeaWorld be dropped, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which is coordinating a protest campaign. 
 
 The actor Alec Baldwin joined in last week, writing, “Please don’t be part of SeaWorld’s crisis-management plan.” 
 
 (Now Mr. Baldwin has his own crisis to manage. He was just suspended from his MSNBC talk show for making an antigay slur.) 
 
 Ms. Jett was supposed to perform on the South Dakota tourism float. 
 
 But ranchers questioned why Ms. Jett, a vegetarian and PETA ally, was representing their state. 
 
 So on Friday, Macy’s moved her to a different float. 
 
 Macy’s and SeaWorld aren’t budging, though. 
 
 “The parade has never taken on, promoted or otherwise engaged in social commentary, political debate or other forms of advocacy,” Macy’s said. 
 
 SeaWorld said the accusations of mistreatment have “absolutely no basis.” 
 
 Here’s what else you need to know for Monday. 
 
 WEATHER 
 
 Your dreams of thunderstorms were real. But they’re done now. 
 
 Still, an unsettled day. Clearing, gusty, very warm, with highs in the high 60s, then crashing into the 30s. 
 
 COMMUTE 
 
 Subways: Click for latest status. 
 
 Rails: Click for L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status. 
 
 Roads: Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s. 
 
 Alternate-side parking is in effect all week. 
 
 COMING UP TODAY 
 
 • Michelle Obama is in town, attending a luncheon at the Sheraton on Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street, then taping the BET show “106 & Park” at CBS studios on West 57th Street around 3 p.m., says Gridlock Sam. 
 
 • Select Bus Service, where you pay before boarding to speed things up, comes to Brooklyn on the B44, which runs from Williamsburg to Sheepshead Bay. Mayor Bloomberg will be there. 
 
 • First day of the Home Energy Assistance Program, better known as HEAP, which helps low-income New Yorkers pay their heating bills. 
 
 • A protest against a public bathroom? Yes, at 1 p.m. in Brighton Beach, where the city wants to build boardwalk comfort stations in front of a condo complex. Critics say similar units are falling apart. 
 
 • Justice Sonia Sotomayor discusses her memoir and fields questions at City College. 5:30 p.m. [Free] 
 
 • Learn about volunteering opportunities around the world at a fair at the New School. 5 to 8 p.m. [Free] 
 
 • The historian Doris Kearns Goodwin talks about her new book, “Bully Pulpit,” at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. 7 p.m. [Free] 
 
 • Watch the year’s best music videos, as chosen at the Los Angeles Music Video Festival, in a screening at the School of Visual Arts. 7 p.m. [Free] 
 
 • For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide. 
 
 IN THE NEWS 
 
 • The state education commissioner has become a sounding board for everything parents find wrong with public schools in New York. [New York Times] 
 
 • A diver from Brooklyn died in the Bahamas after trying to set a world record for the deepest dive. [New York Times] 
 
 • A retired priest who says that people can “pray away the gay” is speaking at a Catholic high school in the Bronx on Tuesday, stirring protest. [Daily News] 
 
 • Mayor Bloomberg points out that New York is the only one of the country’s 20 biggest cities where poverty has not risen during the 21st century. [Capital New York] 
 
 • A former plumbing store in Bushwick, Brooklyn, is now home to a witching-supplies shop and occult bookstore. [New York Times] 
 
 • A new series in The Times salutes the city’s unofficial “mayors.” 
 
 • Scoreboard: Giants beat Packers, 24-13. Bills slam Jets, 37-14. Kings blank Rangers, 1-0. 
 
 AND FINALLY… 
 
 Some children will be staying home from public schools today. 
 
 Their parents are taking part in a national protest against the federal educational standards known as the Common Core. 
 
 Opponents say the Common Core usurps power from local school boards and overemphasizes testing. 
 
 More than 6,000 people have said on the protest’s Facebook page that they will keep their kids home. 
 
 A Staten Island mother told The Staten Island Advance that she hoped to “open the eyes of the government.” 
 
 Joseph Burgess contributed reporting. 
 
 New York Today is a morning roundup that stays live from 6 a.m. till about noon. 
 
 What would you like to see here to start your day? Post a comment, email us at nytoday@nytimes.com or reach us via Twitter using #NYToday. 
 
 Find us on weekdays at nytoday.com.
– Oops: Observers at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade were surprised to discover that the confetti landing on their coats contained confidential information including social security numbers and banking info. One paradegoer tells WPIX his friend first noticed a Social Security number on one piece of confetti, then found more with "phone numbers, addresses, more social security numbers, license plate numbers," and police incident reports including arrest records and information about Mitt Romney's motorcade. Turns out the confetti was made up of Nassau County Police Department documents that "were shredded, but clearly not well enough," WPIX notes. Some of the documents even identify undercover police officers by name, and give out information including dates of birth, social security numbers, and more. The police department says in a statement that it is "very concerned" and will be investigating the matter, and Macy's says it uses "commercially manufactured, multicolor confetti, not shredded paper" in the parade. (Click for more on how shredded documents can be reassembled.)