Every Halloween there's a parade in NYC down in the Greenwich Village area. As long as you have a costume, actually even if you don't have a costume, it's open to anybody who wants to join. It's widely known for display of creative costumes, parade floats featuring loud music and dancers, plus members of the gay community who take advantage of the open spectacle to wear certain arrangements they normally wouldn't be allowed to on any other normal day.
Two years ago I walked in the parade for the first time, and after missing last year's event I wanted to make sure I didn't miss it again. The only factors that would have prevented me would have been the weather and not being able to find a costume worthy enough. It snowed just the other day and had been bitterly cold the past few days, but tonight's forecast was bearable. As for the costume, luckily I was able to find one I really liked in a Ghostbusters uniform. When I was small I was a huge Ghostbusters fan, watching the movie over and over, watching the cartoon versions, collecting all the toys, etc. At the store the clerk said they might've ran out of that one, which would have been a big disappointment since I didn't see any other costumes I found interesting enough, but there was good news as they still had it in stock.
The parade assembly time was around 6:30pm, so I took the subway to the village and lined up with everyone else in their costumes. While on the line some group was handing out condoms to everyone, not sure what that was all about. The police kept everyone barracaded in till about 8pm which was getting annoying as everyone was cramped together, but finally they put the gates aside and let the parade begin. The route went up 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) from around Spring St. to 17th St. Along the sidewalks behind the police fences were large crowds of people with cameras flashing like the paparazzi. When I went two years ago there was some rain that night which might've kept some people at home, but this year with no rain there seemed to be more people participating, and even more watching from the sidewalks. I got a fair number of calls from people in the crowd yelling out "Ghostbusters" or "Who ya' gonna call?". In fact, even one of the cops on duty gave me a 'who ya' gonna call?'. A few fellow paraders also asked me to take a picture with them, and I happy oblidged. I was quite satisfied that there was no one else who had the same costume I did. Maybe there was someone ten block away I couldn't see, but as long as I didn't see it that was good news to me. From people's reactions I think I might've been the only one, or at least one from a very small group. The only thing about the parade that I found surprising was the minimal-to-none amount of gay people in their usual raunch-filled outfits. This year seemed mellow with that compared to what I saw a couple of years ago and had been seeing on the news for many years.
Once the parade reached 17th Street then the police had everyone turn off 6th Ave. and from there the parade would end and everyone was to disband. After that I walked from 17th and Broadway all the way over to Union Square to take the subway back home. Through the blocks there were still people in costumes roaming around, and when I got to Union Square it seemed many from the parade had gathered at that spot and there was a little scene going on. Some played musical instruments, some took pictures with each other(I took a picture with the Stay Puff Mashmallow Man - Villan of the Ghostbusters), skateboarders were doing tricks off the steps, but the strangest of all was a couple who were fencing with eachother. I stayed around there for about ten minutes to take it all in and then finally decided to call it a night and head home on the subway. During the middle of my ride a mother got on with her three kids, and after seeing my costume, one of the kids told the mother they want to be a Ghostbuster for next year...
Two years ago I walked in the parade for the first time, and after missing last year's event I wanted to make sure I didn't miss it again. The only factors that would have prevented me would have been the weather and not being able to find a costume worthy enough. It snowed just the other day and had been bitterly cold the past few days, but tonight's forecast was bearable. As for the costume, luckily I was able to find one I really liked in a Ghostbusters uniform. When I was small I was a huge Ghostbusters fan, watching the movie over and over, watching the cartoon versions, collecting all the toys, etc. At the store the clerk said they might've ran out of that one, which would have been a big disappointment since I didn't see any other costumes I found interesting enough, but there was good news as they still had it in stock.
The parade assembly time was around 6:30pm, so I took the subway to the village and lined up with everyone else in their costumes. While on the line some group was handing out condoms to everyone, not sure what that was all about. The police kept everyone barracaded in till about 8pm which was getting annoying as everyone was cramped together, but finally they put the gates aside and let the parade begin. The route went up 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) from around Spring St. to 17th St. Along the sidewalks behind the police fences were large crowds of people with cameras flashing like the paparazzi. When I went two years ago there was some rain that night which might've kept some people at home, but this year with no rain there seemed to be more people participating, and even more watching from the sidewalks. I got a fair number of calls from people in the crowd yelling out "Ghostbusters" or "Who ya' gonna call?". In fact, even one of the cops on duty gave me a 'who ya' gonna call?'. A few fellow paraders also asked me to take a picture with them, and I happy oblidged. I was quite satisfied that there was no one else who had the same costume I did. Maybe there was someone ten block away I couldn't see, but as long as I didn't see it that was good news to me. From people's reactions I think I might've been the only one, or at least one from a very small group. The only thing about the parade that I found surprising was the minimal-to-none amount of gay people in their usual raunch-filled outfits. This year seemed mellow with that compared to what I saw a couple of years ago and had been seeing on the news for many years.
Once the parade reached 17th Street then the police had everyone turn off 6th Ave. and from there the parade would end and everyone was to disband. After that I walked from 17th and Broadway all the way over to Union Square to take the subway back home. Through the blocks there were still people in costumes roaming around, and when I got to Union Square it seemed many from the parade had gathered at that spot and there was a little scene going on. Some played musical instruments, some took pictures with each other(I took a picture with the Stay Puff Mashmallow Man - Villan of the Ghostbusters), skateboarders were doing tricks off the steps, but the strangest of all was a couple who were fencing with eachother. I stayed around there for about ten minutes to take it all in and then finally decided to call it a night and head home on the subway. During the middle of my ride a mother got on with her three kids, and after seeing my costume, one of the kids told the mother they want to be a Ghostbuster for next year...
Who's behind the Marshmallow Man?
ReplyDeleteNo idea, just a stranger on the street wearing the costume of my archenemy. I was actually considering the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man constume, but it was $10 more, so I just went with the Ghostbusters.
ReplyDelete