NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- High-heeled boots, makeup, black leather, and that's just the grand marshals.
1010 WINS AUDIO: Steve Kastenbaum Reports
1010 WINS Slideshow: Greenwich Village Halloween Parade
The annual Greenwich Village Halloween parade kicked off in high style on Tuesday, heading up Sixth Avenue with Grand Marshals Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS in full black-and-white performance regalia.
``We were going to come down in suits and ties,'' Stanley said. ``But we decided to wear our street gear, and we're happy to see a whole city of people who look as freaky as we do.''
It might have been one of the few times when the rockers have ever faced any costume competition. Joining them in the 33rd annual parade were marchers dressed as everything from Halloween standards like devils, witches and pirates to a man wearing an outfit covered with plastic spoons.
``It's fun. Be a wacko in the parade,'' said Mike Sullivan, who called himself Spoon Man and who has marched in the parade before. ``Next year will be something else.''
The parade, started in 1973 as a neighborhood event for children, has grown to encompass thousands of marchers, floats and giant puppets, with huge crowds of onlookers and television coverage. It's an unusual parade in that it allows people to join in as marchers if they want to, as long as they're in costume. All they have to do is show up at the start line.
This year the parade theme was ``The Village Hearth,'' said Jeanne Fleming, the artistic director. It's a reference to ancient times, when communities in places like Ireland would gather for giant bonfires on a special night to mark the end of one season and the beginning of another.
The parade, as an event that brings the community together, is a version of that, Fleming said.
``We're re-enacting a ritual that's gone on for a long time,'' she said.
Marchers were met by an appreciative audience, lining the police barricades set up along Sixth Avenue. Some traveled from Pennsylvania and New Jersey to watch the spectacle.
Kristin Jones, a visual artist who lives in the downtown Manhattan neighborhood, brought a small step ladder so she could see over the thick crowd of onlookers. She said she likes the eclectic parade because it is representative of the city.
``I love the variety of the city,'' she said.
The Princeton University Band played as the parade moved up the avenue. A pack of zombies performed the routine to Michael Jackson's ``Thriller.'' Revelers with ramshackle signs and flimsy floats dedicated to dogs and carrying Simmons and Stanley of KISS rolled along as other float-riders threw confetti.
Rory Sortino, a real estate agent from Jersey City, N.J., came with his wife. He stood on a milk crate, dressed in a pinstripe outfit with leather bracelets, calling himself Super Convict.
``To me, this is New York's version of Mardi Gras,'' he said. ``It's a very good, positive way for people to express themselves.''
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