Photos: All The Good Dogs At The 2017 Tompkins Square Halloween Parade
Oct. 22, 2017, 9:36 a.m.
Thousands of cute, costumed canines and a huge crowd of spectators made this year's Halloween festivities by far the largest yet.
Thousands of adorable—and brave and loyal and GOOD—costumed dogs packed into Tompkins Square Park yesterday afternoon for their annual Halloween Parade. Add at least three times as many human handlers and spectators to that total, and not only was the newish ball-court venue for the beloved tradition unable to accommodate the crowds (hundreds of people were literally turned away at the entrance), but the entire park overflowed with canine cuteness and frisky activity.
There were plenty of the usual dog disguises on display—lobsters, tacos, spiders—plus a number of those newfangled store-bought numbers that feature dangling "arms" (UPS carriers, Popeyes, and baristas were particularly prevalent examples of this last category for some reason). There were many Popes as well. And Pennywise, the evil It clown, seen with or without a Georgie, showed no sign of relinquishing the title of most popular costume that didn't exist last year.
The best costumes, of course, were the homemade ones, with their dogs often pushed around the park in elaborately decorated carriages or floats. The Tropical Fish (complete with aquarium), the sightseeing bus of French Bulldog Tourists, the endearingly rough-hewn Spaghetti and Meatballs, the Oscar the Grouch, the King Tut, the IUD, were all superb.
It was all sweet, goofy fun, but the real world did intrude on occasion, in the form of several Trump dogs (the Hurricane Relief version was kind of clever), and a A Handmaid's Tail/#MeToo group costume.
There are many many people taking pictures of this pic.twitter.com/ZTdRFGjcaB
— Emma Whitford (@emma_a_whitford) October 21, 2017