BY BOB KRASNER | This year’s annual Halloween Dog Parade brought an “unprecedented number of people” to Tompkins Square Park, according to the event’s founder, Garrett Rosso.
“I think the selfie generation has blown it up,” he noted.
There’s no way to estimate how many pics were snapped, especially given the abundance of subject matter. More than 500 canine contestants were allowed to enter the contest before the rest were turned away, and the Police Department estimates that 25,000 people were in the park.
Many of those people had obviously spent a lot of time dressing their dogs, whose costumes ranged from “Amelia Doghart” to Harvey Weinerstein, alongside a tribute to Hugh Hefner and a stab or two at Donald Trump.
Group efforts included the Village People and the casts of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.”
The Ferrer / Lawson clan took home the “Best In Show” prize (which included tickets for “Hamilton”) for their busload of French bulldog New York City tourists.
“My wife Diane is the creative director,” said Tim Lawson. “I cut the wood.”
Presiding over the three-hour parade of furry space aliens, dinosaurs, sea creatures, heroes and villains were various emcees, including local politico Carlina Rivera.
Notable among them was the man in the Mad Hatter outfit, Garrett Rosso, the founder and organizer of the parade, who stepped onstage as an emcee for the first time in the event’s 27-year history. Rosso created the parade as a fundraiser for the Tompkins Square Dog Run, which is not funded by the city.
An East Village resident — and owner of Gabriel, a German shepherd — Rosso is a professional dog trainer who was instrumental in creating the dog run and he continues on as the manager and chief fundraiser.
“Some people don’t like seeing the signs for corporate sponsorship, but the community is the sole supporter of the dog park,” Rosso explained.
This year Purina, Rubie’s Pet Shop and Petco helped to offset maintenance costs, such as the $10,000 needed for fresh sand.
Rosso is not sure if he’ll be up on that stage again next year, but he’s already looking forward to the next Halloween Dog Parade.
“As soon as the dogs show up, I start smiling,” he said. “The people just bring it every year — they just keep getting more and more creative.”
