New York City rolled out the red carpet for the spooky season on Oct. 31 as the 53rd annual Village Halloween Parade turned Lower Manhattan into a massive block party. An estimated 2 million spectators packed the streets to watch approximately 80,000 costumed participants march from Canal Street and Sixth Avenue all the way to West 16th Street in Greenwich Village. This year’s theme, “Body & Soul,” pushed everyone to celebrate movement and dreams while paying homage to the Year of the Horse with music, dance, and theatrical flair.
Legendary director Spike Lee was spotted walking the route and filming the iconic “Thriller” dance troupe, proving that even the biggest stars want to join the fun. From funky disco tracks and Miss Congeniality-style dance troupes to a Dolly Parton drumline that energized the audience, the evening offered it all. while floats featuring shouting zombies and Subway Mania wrestlers added unexpected chaos to the mix.
A Classic Photo Comes to Life
While the whole parade was a spectacle, one group went to great heights to honor old New York. Bronx-born Christina Simon Ciurdar and her spouse, Ben, devoted weeks to recreating the renowned 1932 monochrome image of ironworkers dining on a beam 850 feet above the street while Rockefeller Center was being built. The ambitious creation included five people, including another couple and the woman’s sister, all dressed to match the historical image.
Ciurdar, 39, told The Post that the group spared no detail in making the costume authentic. “We’re going to have a newspaper, a lunch box, hold a sandwich, pieces that are similar to the actual photo. And it’s also nice too because the lunchbox doubles as my purse ,” Ciurdar said, according to the New York Post. They kept the color palette strictly black, white, and gray, heading to TJ Maxx to find the largest pairs of pants they could find to create the dangling effect.
The construction required serious engineering. The pants were filled with polyfill and tied to each person’s waist to dangle from a foam beam, giving the illusion they were sitting on the ledge. “There is wire running through the leg to add a bend and keep the shoes on,” Ciurdar explained. She noted that they hung a string of Christmas lights beneath the beam “to make it look like the windows are twinkling” so the photo would stand out at night.
Why This Effort Matters
This kind of dedication is exactly what makes New York City the greatest show on earth. You can’t just buy this level of creativity off the shelf; it takes real passion and a willingness to look a little crazy in public. The Ciurdars arrived in Queens a week prior to the parade to prep, spending “three days to construct, plus three days of planning, ordering supplies and running around the city beforehand,” she said. That is the kind of work ethic we need more of in this city, whether you’re building skyscrapers or just trying to look good at a parade.
It costs just under $100 per person to make the outfit, which is a steal for a performance that captures the spirit of the city’s history. Ciurdar noted that the lights were necessary because “once it gets really dark, it’s hard to tell what anybody is.” This attention to detail separates the amateurs from the pros and shows why the Village Halloween Parade remains a must-see event every single year.
The parade culminated around 11 p.m., leaving Lower Manhattan buzzing with energy after hours of elaborate costumes and lively performances. It was a reminder that New Yorkers know how to throw a party and how to respect their history while having a blast. This is opinion and commentary from the RapForMayor team.
