FORT GREENE — Neighborhood celebrity Rosie Perez is set to judge the star quality unleashed by Fort Greene's pups.
Perez, an actress and local activist, is joining a panel of judges who will choose the most over-the-top canine costume in the annual Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest.
The Oct. 26 competition is one of the neighborhood's most beloved events, drawing hundreds of four-legged contestants and more than 500 spectators to Fort Greene Park each year.
"You have to have a sense of humor to dress up your dog, and people love to laugh," organizer Kath Hansen said, explaining the event's popularity. "And it makes kids so happy!"
Past contestants have dressed up as the Barclays Center, Lindsay Lohan and characters from "Breaking Bad." This year, Hansen hopes to see costumes "that make absolutely no sense, like a dog wearing a Bounty paper towel roll."
Hansen and a group of local dog owners started the contest in 1999. Calling themselves Fort Greene Park Users and Pets Society (PUPS), the team also works to keep off-leash hours legal in the park, provide bag dispensers and help out local shelters.
Registration opens at 11 a.m. on the day of the event, at the bottom of the stairs in the monument plaza of Fort Greene Park. Perez and other local judges will start the scoring promptly at noon.
