Central Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, November 1, 2001

CENTRAL PARK DRESSES UP FOR HALLOWEEN

Photo by Susan (I-Town) Thompson

Central Park came as a spooky autumn wonderland for the Seventh Annual Newmark Real Estate Great Halloween Party. Bethesda Terrace was costumed as a giant pumpkin patch with 7,500 little squashes hidden among 300 bales of hay, and as a centerpiece, an 811-pound pumpkin carved with the words "I Love New York." Cherry Hill disguised itself as the Nutella Costume Making station where kids could cook up a kooky costume in minutes. There were Martians, wonderwomen, ghosts, and ninjas racing up and down the south forty acres of the park on Saturday, October 27 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. when the party ended.

The Chess and Checkers house was transformed into a haunted house where the cries of ghosts and the howls of witches sent tingles up children’s spines. All along the East Drive there were old-fashioned hayrides. Ord from Dragon Tails, Leona the Lion from Between the Lions, and the title characters from Arthur, Caillou and Zaboomafoo paid the party a visit, meeting and greeting at the Rumsey Playfield. Also at Rumsey, house pets competed for first place in a Dress your Pet for Howl-O-Ween contest. Up and down the length of Dead Road there were arts and crafts activities, face painting, free roller blade rentals, and, at the end of the day, a "skate fright" performance on wheels. Central Park was the stage for spectacle and spook on Saturday. An estimated 30,000 suspended their disbelief and enjoyed the park in its latest snazzy costume.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Newmark Real Estate, Nutella, Viacom Outdoor, the New York Post, NYRS (the New York Restaurant School), Plantronics, M & M Mars, Hershey, Aw’Some Candies, Passion for Pets Showroom, Stewarts Beverages, WGBH Boston, and PBS, and the fine organization of the Marketing, Recreation, and Special Events offices.

The festival grounds of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park became the stage on which outstanding public servants were honored Saturday, October 27. Apollo, a German shepherd in the NYPD Canine Unit and his handler, Peter Davis received recognition from the City and from the American Kennel Club. Apollo and Peter have assisted in the search and rescue at ground zero since September 11. They were nominated for the Award for Canine Excellence by Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Dan Donadio.

Apollo is certified as a Level I canine for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is one of only 25 dogs in the country to hold that title. Since 1994, he has assisted with search and rescue, cadaver recovery, weapons recovery, criminal apprehension, and patrols. He was honored Saturday for his "leadership, unwavering loyalty, and keen senses." Apollo and Peter’s achievements are representative of the skill and hard work exhibited by the Police Department’s canine unit of 27 German shepherds and their handlers who have devoted the last seven weeks to search and rescue. At the conclusion of the ceremony they reported to work at ground zero.

As public servants, the dogs honored in Queens are more like firefighters than house pets. They are not the first such dogs to be honored in New York City’s parks. In 1925 Parks erected what has become a favorite monument for children. The Balto statue in Central Park depicts the Siberian husky who led a dogsled team through a blizzard and over arctic terrain to Nome, Alaska where it delivered desperately needed medicine to quell a diptheria epidemic there. In time, Balto’s figure, poised in Central Park, has been burnished gold by the hands of admiring children. If Apollo’s fans could show their admiration, he too might shine like gold. The American and Queensborough Kennel Clubs organized Saturday’s ceremony.

(Thursday, October 27, 1988)