Trick or...Parade?

It’s listed as one of the top One Hundred Things to Do Before You Die. It attracts over two million visitors each year, disrupts traffic all over town, and boasts some of the most elaborate displays of puppetry to found anywhere in the U.S.. Yes, I’m talking about none other than New York’s Village Halloween Parade, and yes, this was the adventure that Stephanie and I chose to partake in the last weekend of October.

Originally, our game plan had involved elaborate paper mache costumes that would shock and awe all those who looked upon us. Alas, work, visitors, and other New York adventures got in the way and we arrived at the 31st with nothing to show for ourselves. Resilient, we quickly assembled some costumes with old clothes and cheap eye-shadow-turned-face-paint. Stephanie ended up as a wandering gypsy woman, and I was a unicorn (with a somewhat dubious head-piece – I think I looked more like an uncoordinated rabbit that had an unfortunate run in with a poll).

Pleased with our quick thinking, we headed down to the village. As we drew nearer, more and more interesting folk appeared in the subway cars – Santa Clause and the Mario Brothers, to name a few. When we finally stepped off onto the platform, there wasn’t an un-costumed face in sight. The press of people was so thick that it took a good ten minutes to get through the turn styles and up the stairs. When we finally did emerge, the first thing I noticed was the ubiquitous police presence. Everywhere you looked there were officers, giving directions, keeping the crowd flowing, and making it clear that this was going to be a safe event.

After some wandering and crowd weaving, we eventually made it to a holding pen for parade walkers (we weren’t about to just watch this – we wanted to march!). At first, it was just fun looking at all the bizarre outfits swirling around us. There was a Satyr that looked remarkably real, and a glowing firefly too. But the pen was packed pretty tight, and despite the party vibe and thumping music coming from the float next to us, our feet were starting to feel it after a half hour of waiting. The rain sealed the deal for us – we were busting out! (And by busting out I mean saying a lot of “excuse me”, “pardon me”, “excuse me” as we squirmed through the press of people and clambered unceremoniously over the side barricades). Once we were free of the pen, it was easy to slip into the actual parade. We walked next to a zombie pirate ship for awhile, then tailed an LGBT marching band, and got stuck behind a huge group of “Thriller” dancers. All in all, it probably would have been more fun if the rain wasn’t coming down in sheets by this time. Sufficiently soaked and satisfied with the experience, we soon turned our attention to escaping the parade itself – a feat which proved even more challenging than getting in. Despite the rain, the crowd watching was between five and ten people deep, and protected by barricades. It took us a good half mile of walking before we glimpsed a weak spot and made a break for it.

Once we were free of the parade, we shuffled along bovine-like with the herds of people milling through the village. Eventually we came to a little Mexican Restaurant where we relaxed and dried off while eating super-spicy salsa. We met up with friends after that, then began the long trek home (there was a line above ground for the subway). Needless to say, there were lots of rowdy, intoxicated riders packed in with us. We found their loud antics amusing, to say the least, but we were just as excited when we found out that yes, the train would be going express. Joyous high fives all around!