Hundreds of costumed canines, accompanied by thousands of much-less-cute human handlers and spectators, packed into Tompkins Square Park on Saturday for the 25th annual Halloween Dog Parade.
The main action took place in the park’s dog run, with thousands of dollars in prizes up for grabs for those willing to wait an hour or more on line to walk (or be pushed in elaborate “floats” fashioned from baby carriages) past the judges. But most of the massive crowd couldn’t even get close to the actual parade, and were content to mill around the pathways and lawns and take a million Instagrams of the mostly ridiculous-looking pooches.
There were at least three Pizza Rats on hand, a Netflix-and-chill terrier, several Marty McFlys, a Popes, princesses, lobsters, a giraffe, an amazing armadillo, a Fat Jew, two members of the seminal
East Village punk band the RaBONES, a “Pet Blue” airline get up, a Pet Cemetery, a Book of Mormon trio (two men, one dog), a cleverly executed three-headed Cerebus, a Simpsons threesome (one woman, two
tiny dogs), a whole Flintstones rig, and on and on and on. Literally hundreds more.
The grand prize for Best In Show went to a crew from Dallas of all places, decked out in full-on Dia de los Muertos gear. Toward the end of the three-plus hour festivities two dog brothers, one dressed as a taco truck, the other as a taco, engaged in an epic battle near the Avenue A entrance to the park, much to the delight of passersby.