{"id":354747,"date":"2026-09-23T16:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T16:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/354747\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T16:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T16:29:08","slug":"bay-ridges-beloved-ragamuffin-parade-turns-60-celebrating-generations-of-community-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/354747\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Ridge\u2019s beloved Ragamuffin Parade turns 60, celebrating generations of community \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bay Ridge Ragamuffin Parade<\/a> is turning 60 \u2014 and the longtime neighborhood tradition is celebrating the milestone year by honoring the community that has maintained it. <\/p>\n

Ragamuffin Inc. hosted its annual kickoff brunch on Sept. 20 at Bay Ridge Manor, bringing supporters together ahead of the 60th annual Ragamuffin Parade this Saturday, which will once again transform Bay Ridge into a colorful procession of costumed children. <\/p>\n

The organization\u2019s president, Allison Greaker, told Brooklyn Paper that the anniversary has given organizers a chance to reflect on just how deeply the parade is woven into the neighborhood. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely excited because it dawned on us this summer that we\u2019re the largest children\u2019s costume parade in the country,\u201d Greaker said. \u201cThis is the largest and oldest children\u2019s parade.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Ragamuffin\"Greaker said the parade is the \u201coldest and largest\u201d children\u2019s parade in the country.Photo by Arthur de Gaeta<\/p>\n

The Ragamuffin Parade<\/a> has been a Bay Ridge tradition since 1966, when \u201cFather McKenna of Our Lady of Angels and Ridgeite Cliff Scanlon rounded up neighborhood children from different parishes to put on a parade, just for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there were no costumes at the start, longtime committee member Joan Curran said in a 2025 interview with Brooklyn Paper that \u201ckids just wore their parents\u2019 clothes so they looked messy like little ragamuffins. It was priceless.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Community leaders and residents gathered over the weekend to kick off the 60th anniversary celebrations.Photo by Arthur de Gaeta<\/p>\n

Ragamuffin Inc. sends 15,000 flyers to public and private schools throughout the district encouraging children to register for the parade. At the end of the procession, every registered child wearing a costume receives a small toy.<\/p>\n

For its 60th, organizers are also putting a new spotlight on young community members. Rather than honoring only adult community leaders as in past years, the parade selected six junior marshals after asking local school principals to nominate students in seventh through 11th grade who have demonstrated exemplary community service. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe got back six really great bios,\u201d Greaker said. \u201cAnd we have six kids that are going to be marching with us as junior marshals.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Greaker (right) stands with some of the local junior marshals.Photo by Arthur de Gaeta<\/p>\n

Our Lady of Angels will serve as this year\u2019s grand marshal, a nod to the church\u2019s role in the parade\u2019s history \u2014 Father McKenna of that parish founded the event. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the church, this parade wouldn\u2019t be what it is today,\u201d Greaker said.<\/p>\n

The anniversary celebration will also recognize four Bay Ridge organizations: the Guild for Exceptional Children, the El-Rose Foundation Coats for the Cold, Bay Ridge Cares and the Bay Ridge Center. <\/p>\n

For Greaker, the parade\u2019s longevity is deeply personal. She marched in the Ragamuffin Parade as a child, volunteered as a teenager and now serves as its president. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d she said. \u201cI love that this is my outlet for community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Generations of Bay Ridge families share that connection. Greaker pointed to Ragamuffin Vice President Marianne Fezza as another example: Fezza marched as a child, later marched with her own children and now has marched with her grandchildren. <\/p>\n

\"\"The parade has been ongoing in Bay Ridge since 1966.Photo by Arthur de Gaeta<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that is what makes this such a special day,\u201d Greaker said. \u201cIt\u2019s just one day out of the year that we spend 11 months preparing for.\u201d <\/p>\n

The parade\u2019s 60th anniversary is ultimately a celebration of that continuity \u2014 children who grow up marching eventually returning with children and grandchildren of their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cBay Ridge is a very, very special community,\u201d Greaker continued. \u201cIt always has been. And that we have been able to produce this parade for 60 years is remarkable, but at the same time, it\u2019s a no-brainer because Bay Ridge is such a fantastic place.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bay Ridge Ragamuffin Parade is turning 60 \u2014 and the longtime neighborhood tradition is celebrating the milestone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[7727,98637,6456,10454,34795,132230,37808,245,9,24,370,63,132231,132232,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-354747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-bay-ridge","tag-bay-ridge-events","tag-brooklyn-community","tag-brooklyn-events","tag-brooklyn-traditions","tag-childrenu2019s-parade","tag-family-events","tag-halloween","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-ragamuffin-inc","tag-ragamuffin-parade","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}