Written by: Albert Terc
Photos: Albert Terc/ Nayra Terc
One of the most anticipated parades of the year was set to kick off on 6th Avenue near Spring Street in the Village at around 7pm. The normally busy 6th Avenue was transformed from heavy commercial traffic during the daytime to the wild and scary Village Halloween Parade with all kinds scary and imaginative costumes. This is the parade where you see NY creativity at its best. This year’s theme was Upside/Down: Inside/Out which is a reflection of the kind of reality some people have been creating lately. Artistic and Production Director Jeanne Fleming and her group work tirelessly each year to bring about one of the best parades of the city. This year well over a million people lined the parade route up 6th Avenue to 18th Street. Many revelers were scared by some of the creepiest costumes I’ve seen.
The Village Halloween Parade is by far the biggest Halloween party in the World. There’s lots of music, lots of dancing, live bands, floats from local night clubs, floats with house music, hip-hop and metal. There were some Dominican, Brazilian, Mexican music groups, two all female drum bands and of course everyone’s favorite, the Michael Jackson Thriller dance group. This year I assembled a best of video with some of the better highlights of the parade. One of my favorite floats carried the Grand Marshall, Laurie Anderson and a tribute to her deceased husband, Lou Reed. These two artists have left their mark on NYC and the World with their music and artistic vision. For a few minutes, I was tempted to take a walk on the wild side but I had plenty of parade to cover and enjoy.
The Village Halloween Parade is a New York institution and brings out the best in everybody who wants to have a fun time. Well over a million people getting together and zero arrests. That’s how NYers do it!! You can see the detail in the costumes and and time spent on the choreography of some of the groups that marched. Halloween parade veterans know it’s not just about getting dressed up. The idea is to either scare revelers up the parade route or provide some entertainment along the way. I bumped into a worked up Karen that wanted royalties for the pictures I took of her and a really down and dirty looking guy in an unusual dress saying Hi Barbie to everyone. Great stuff. Hope you enjoy the photo roll as much as I had taking them.
NYC Parade Life 