It’s only a few weeks away, but the local shops here around Greenwich Village where I live
have been stocked with Halloween gew gaws for months. Selling costumes and silly string and big plastic Yoda masks,
everyone is gearing up for one of the neighborhood’s biggest events of the year (after the Gay Pride Parade, of
course): the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.
Now if you are in New York City on Halloween and are not afraid of swarming crowds of revelers roaming the streets
dressed up in a dizzying panoply of absurd and hilarious costumes, well, then at the very least you ought to come down
and check it out. If you really want to participate, well then, by all means think up a good costume and join the fun.
The parade runs up 6th Avenue, from Spring Street to 22nd Street, and pretty much anyone can join in.
Each year we try and figure out what the most outrageous costume will be. The best ones tend to be based on
current events. For example, I’m sure we’ll see hundreds of Martha Stewarts in prison garb.
Keep in mind, the crowds are HUGE. The parade attracts over 50,000 costumed exhibitionists, as well as dancers,
musicians, homemade, monstrous puppets that will induce either giggles or waves of fear depending on which hallucinogen
you chose to consume. Oh…and don’t forget the two million-plus spectators.