As the top pic shows, there was a big turnout for the event after last year's primarily virtual offering (there was a small in-person/dog event at Lucky on Avenue B).
And as always, there were pop (pup?)-cultural references galore represented in the costumes, from standbys such as "Star Wars," "It" and "Joker" to recent phenomenons like "Squid Game."
In the end, the panel of judges, which included local resident Lindsey Jordan, the singer-songwriter behind Snail Mail, selected a more topical Best in Show...
... an essential workers tribute created by Bronx resident Ruben Santana and featuring his dog Amun ...
EVG contributor Stacie Joy was there ... and she shared this look at some of the costumes seen on this dog day afternoon...
The Dog Parade, which outgrew Tompkins Square Park, took place in East River Park in 2018 and 2019.With the gutting of East River Park expected to start in several weeks, this will likely be the last time the Dog Parade is held at this venue in the foreseeable future.
Opponents of the city's current resiliency plan for the Lower East Side stormed the stage at one point to protest the impending "destruction" of East River Park. The move drew some criticism from attendees, to which East River Park Action responded in an Instagram post with: "Is the city's destruction of our park more onerous than disrupting the doggies in costume?"
