Multiple versions of the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1 — as well as an inflatable “Slimer” — were on display at the Tribeca Film Festival Family Street Fair on April 23.
BY COLIN MIXSON
Families from across the five boroughs and beyond converged on Greenwich St. on Apr. 23 for games, dance performances, bubble-blowing stations, and a certain group of paranormal investigators at the Tribeca Film Festival Family Street Fair.
The bounty of bubbles — from heaps of suds to airborne giants — left the impression of winter weather on the spring day, according to one out-of-towner.
“Right near Hubert Street they had these different stations with giant bowls of bubbles, and huge, huge wands, and so the street literally looked like it had snow on the ground, because of all the bubbles,” said Barbara Lilien, the Delawarean grandmother of little Frankie Osherow, 2. “That was the most fun.”
The frivolity and spectacle were all part of the film festival’s cap-off street fair — a full day of fun and games offered free to all comers on the second to last day of the nearly two-week-long festival.
Super-sized soap bubbles aside, one of the day’s biggest draws was the presence of the Big Apple’s favorite paranormal handymen — the Ghostbusters — albeit, in the form of several very convincing fan groups.
At Spook Central, the Ghostbusters-themed section of the show, kids got the chance to hang out with the ultra-committed cos-players of New York City Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters New Jersey — collectively known as “Ghostheads” — who sported the iconic beige jumpsuits and intricately hand-crafted proton packs made famous by the eponymous film.
A few of the more ardent spectral investigators even rode to the fair aboard ghost-themed hearses retrofitted to resemble the iconic Ecto-1, a souped-up 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor, which bore Professor Venkman and his partners towards their various paranormal confrontations.
Their dedication struck a few dubious onlookers as a bit overwhelming.
“Their whole life revolves around their Ghostbusters events, so they go to hospitals and things, but they spend a lot of money on their outfits, and real cars all decked out,” said Heidi Frederick, the owner of the Seaport-area gym Facelove Fitness. “They had like ten cars set up.”
But Frederick showed up with her own budding Ghosthead in tow. Her 5-year-old son Henry came to the event equipped with a proton pack of his own creation, which he scrapped together — with a little help from his dad — out of vacuum parts and home printers. The end result was so convincing, his grown-up counterparts awarded him a place of honor in the show, according to his mom.
“Henry got invited onto the red carpet,” said the proud mother. “He was the cutest thing in the whole festival.”
The Ghostbusters theme was further explored with screenings of the original film, which was followed by a panel led by select members of the Ghosthead community.
The event also offered a full arcade worth of sports and video games, including a parkour obstacle course and a kitchen-simulator game called Short Order, where families teamed up as waiters and line chefs to concoct wacky fantasy dishes under fast-food time pressure in a test of family teamwork and communication.
