The beloved Tompkins Square Dog Parade lives on.
After organizers canceled the event when they couldn’t afford the insurance required by the city Parks Department, a local civic group, Good Old Lower East Side, decided to pay it with help from a GoFundMe page set up in August by Queens resident Therese Moriarty.
The 28th annual parade took place at the East River Park Amphitheater in the Lower East Side’s Corlears Hook Park on Oct. 28 and was hosted by ESPN’s Katie Nolan and was broadcasted on the network.
“This is something we came to look forward to and something to celebrate the dog community and Lower East Side,” Councilwoman Carlina Rivera said at a news conference announcing the return of the parade.
An estimated 20,000 people and 500 dogs were at the parade last year, Rivera said. Because of the size, it requires a contract with the city, and part of that contract requires a Certificate of Insurance valued at $1 million, the Parks Department said.
In addition to helping pay for the insurance, the raised funds will go toward permits and trophies, organizers said.
“We’re so grateful for everyone’s donations and generous offers of support,” Moriarty wrote on the page.
The parade has raised more than $200,000 over the years for the Tompkins Square dog run. ESPN also will make a $10,000 donation to City Parks Foundation to support the run, Rivera said.
With Kayla Simas
