The Grumbles were among the many families who attended the annual Washington Market Park Halloween Party and Costume Parade. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
There seemed no end to the things to do and scary stuff to delight the hundreds of families who came for Tribeca’s longest running tradition, the Washington Market Park’s annual Halloween Party and Costume Parade, held Sunday afternoon.
Setting off down Greenwich Street Street behind the lively beat of the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Marching Band, the Pooh Bears and policemen, blood dripping Draculas and dinosaurs made their way into a park festooned with—to name just a few—cobweb and skeleton-laden benches, a pirate ship, hay bales and joke imprinted tombstones. (“What do you get when you cross a vampire and a teacher? Lots of blood tests.”) Midway games, penny in the haystack, hula hoops, a juggler, scavenger hunt, high tech photo booth, and a thousand dollars worth of candy was just some of the fun in store for the estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Halloween revelers.
Sponsored by the board of Friends of Washington Market Park, the festivities were the work of 15 board members and 25 New York Cares volunteers, all overseen by Jill Simpson, the board co-president, in her first role as the event’s chief organizer.
Simpson said she “stepped up” the decorations, with a pirate theme and some other extras. (“A little bit more bones and skull heads,” she said.)
“At the end of the day,” noted Simpson, who had worried all week about the predicted Nor’easter, “we just got really lucky with the weather.”
Diane Lapson, a longtime Tribeca resident and president of the Independence Plaza Tenants Association, stood and marveled at the crowd and many activities. Having taken her daughter Gabi to the very first Washington Market Park Halloween parade in the mid 1980s, Lapson was back in the park celebration with Gabi, this time also with her daughter’s one-year-old, Gianna. At that first party, Lapson recalled, no more than 50 people attended the event, and the main activity was parading around the park in a circle.
“There were so few of us,” she said, “and now this is like being in Central Park. It’s unbelievable.”
As always, there was no shortage of caped comic book characters and other fantasy figures. But one 20-month-old named Madeline Yau, wearing a black robe and glasses and holding a gavel, stood out. She had come costumed as someone famous for her real life’s work.
“I felt like she was saying I wanted to dress like a real superhero,” said Madeline’s mother, Melissa Hobley. “And Ruth Bader Ginsburg is our living superhero.”
THEN CAME THE PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST
Following the big party, Washington Market Park held its annual pumpkin carving contest, “very low key and more about the families,” as Jill Simpson put it. Below are some of the contestants.
