In 1973, Greenwich Village mask maker and puppeteer Ralph Lee staged a house-to-house puppet show to entertain his neighbors, children and friends. Thirty-three years later, Lee’s show has evolved into the nation’s largest public Halloween celebration.
This year more than two million people lined Sixth Avenue to watch the Village Halloween Parade while another four million watched a live broadcast on local TV station NY1. Many of the people standing behind the barriers watching were as elaborately costumed as those who were marching, dancing and riding up the street.
Hometown boys (well, at least they are former New Yorkers) Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the rock band Kiss served as the Grand Marshals of the four hour event which included elaborate floats, choreographed dancers, dozens of marching bands, hundreds of puppets and more than 50,000 costumed marchers.
The sheer numbers make the event sound overwhelming but (unlike many other Halloween celebrations) the Village Halloween Parade isn’t raucous or rowdy; it remains a good-natured, friendly outdoor party for vampires, zombies, superheroes and kids of all ages.
Strawberry & big brother 
Man carrying skeleton puppet
Captain Morgan
MTV VJ & “David Letterman”
Naughty cop & naughty maid
Reporter & “Paris Hilton”
Desperate housewife
Stay-Puft marshmallow man
Man in a pink tuxedo
Martini girl
Catwoman and Psycho Santa
“Paris Hilton”
Spoon man
Lobster boy
Beheaded man
Blue-haired lady
Corpse bride
Zombie barista
Elf
Cheerleader
Raccoon
The Riddler
Religious guy
Devil & Zombie
Masked man
Cow
Spongebob Squarepants
Bearded bumblebee
Sock monkey
Man with a headache
Acrobats
Viagra man
Zombie
Banana boy & friend
Scooby Doo
Easy chair
Can-can girl
First-class mail
Hot dog girl
Edward Scissorhands
Orange feathers & red hair
Woman with live parrots
Puppeteers
“Pamela Anderson” & “Kid Rock”
Bagged spinach with E Coli
Wolf & wizard
Vampires
Autumn leaf
Little nurse
“Borat”
Little dinosaur in a stroller
The Munsters
Gilligan & palm tree
Real cop & zombie cop
Dia De Los Muertos
Jack O’Lantern puppets
Scary implants
“Prince” & “Madonna”
On the Mannheim Steamroller float
Grand Marshals from Kiss
Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons
Blather From Brooklyn 
my area hosts a gay pride parade, quite a few of those would actually fit in!
i think my favorite was the marshmallow man.
thanks for dropping by my blog earlier.
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Great images!! Looks like a fun time to be had by all!
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Those pictures are great. It looks like so much fun. We don’t have that much fun in Omaha, NE. Go figure. But we had lots of cute trick-or-treaters.
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There’s nothing like New York. Very different from our little corner of the world. Thanks for coming by out here in the boonies, though!
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I loved headless guy and easy chair. What creatives costumes…and of course, great pictures!
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That was a blast! So many inventive costumes and a taste of the Village. Thanks for this post.
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What’s the deal with Miss Hilton? I just read someplace that she would definitely be in a Guinness World Records book as being the world’s “Most Overrated Celebrity.” As if! Can she act? Is she hot as a model? Double yuck! And getting out of jail earlier? Ms. Untalented skirting her accountability as a consequence of her remarkable grandpa, or was it her celebrity status?
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But a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great layout. “Individuals may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.” by Benjamin Disraeli.
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