Halloween is coming up on Thursday, but all New Yorkers could talk about over the weekend was what could be considered a strong contender for the city's biggest day of the year – an unofficial Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition that took place on Sunday afternoon. Paper flyers were plastered around the city for weeks prior, leading to a Partiful link with a mysterious “Gilbert” as the organiser, and almost three thousand RSVPs. In the comments, young girls declared their undying love for Chalamet and their hopes to find a lookalike boyfriend at the event. And, somehow, the madness of the group chat only became amplified in person, as hundreds of teenage girls and dozens of lanky, curly-haired lookalikes gathered under Washington Square Arch. But the police shut down the competition as quickly as it started. Then there were screams: “They are arresting Timmy.” Of course, Timothée Chalamet was not detained; he briefly appeared in the crowd wearing a baseball cap before bolting down the street, with hundreds of fans chasing behind him. “I’m going to tell my grandkids about this,” one said fan as they bolted past their friends.

Among the arrests and (actual) celebrity appearances were young boys who had just moved to New York with a dream, bearing only a slight resemblance to Chalamet but still dressed head-to-toe in Wonka Costumes in an attempt to make new friends. The crowd cheered or booed while hopeful lookalikes presented themselves, and one thing was certain: the essence of Timmy is in the eye of the beholder. Still, the event proved that people are still more than willing to gather in numbers for the sheer possibility of spotting someone famous-looking. Model scouts like Jared Borek from AMR Agency were also circulating. “My agents send me to a lot of events that they want me to scout for, and this was one they pushed for,” Borek says. “It’s literally a gold mine, or a twink parade, if you will.” Then there were the groups of teenage girls searching for “hot Timmy”. Ashley, an 18-year-old in New York, says her friends had a rough night on Saturday evening, so they came to the lookalike contest to “touch grass and reconnect with nature”. That’s when they spotted who they call “the finest Timmy”. “We saw the hottest Timmy here; he had height, he had the face, he had everything,” said 19-year-old Katrina. “He was wearing a little grey jacket, so if you see him, send him to us.”

As the afternoon passed, I never did come across a Chalamet lookalike in a grey jacket (maybe “hot Timmy” is simply the friends we made along the way). I did, however, see short Timmys, tall Timmys, “it’s just the hair” Timmys, and even “I can’t put my finger on why, but he’s just got it” Timmys. While the official winner, Miles Mitchell, does undeniably strike a resemblance to the New York actor (and gets an A+ for wearing Wonka attire), there were plenty of others who looked like they could nail a rendition of Nicki Minaj’s “Roman’s Revenge”, be involved in an NYU Chlamydia scandal, and then ultimately receive nominations for an Academy Award and three Golden Globes. Here are the best of New York’s runner-up Chalamet lookalikes.

SIM, 17

“I just think I have the features. I saw the flyers around, so I’m here today trying to win.”

NOAH, 23

“It’s just the hair for me. I know someone who had his exact facial structure. I’m sad he didn’t pull up because he would have won.”

CRAMER, 18

“Looking like Timothée Chalamet is my number one comment on any social media platform.” 

ROBERTO, 26

“People tell me I look like him, but I wouldn’t have the confidence to say so myself. I was out with some friends late last night, and everyone kept sending me the screenshot of the event. I live super close, so I came.”

REED PUTNAM, 21

“It’s just the hair, eyebrows, and nose. That’s probably it. If you just saw the top half of my face, you might think I was him.”

FINN, 16

“If I’m going to be honest, I just came here because I wanted like to get a photo with like a dozen dudes who sort of look like me. I just think it would be so funny to assemble them into a gang and walk around New York City. If I saw that, I’d be freaked out, for sure.”

“ARRESTED TIMMY”, UNKNOWN

Free him!