On Easter Sunday, Mary Catanzaro will plant about 100 empty plastic eggs in Bryant Park — she would fill them with chocolate, but then the squirrels could get them.
The egg frenzy is just part of Catanzaro’s holiday-themed scavenger hunt, an annual affair that combines the vibrant colors of spring with the pastel sensibilities of the Easter bunny.
"I think it’s just a fun way to see the city, it’s a fun thing to do with your family, it’s very interactive — its very Instagram friendly," said Catanzaro, who owns POGO Events and has been hosting the hunt for more than a decade. "One year we had an Easter bunny running all over the city and they had to chase him and find him."
Participants, who tend to be mostly New Yorkers and not tourists, will seek out everything from flowers to the bunny himself, before gathering at Bryant Park in a rush to find the plastic eggs in a matter of only 15 minutes.
The scavenger hunt starts at 1:30 p.m. and costs $25 per person, but free for kids under 5 years old. The winning team will take home $100, while second place gets a free future scavenger hunt.
"It’s fun because they get to see the city in a way they don’t usually," Catanzaro said. "We try and showcase things that people don’t see all the time."
