Contributing Writers: Celene McDermott, Veronica Torok, Briehn Trumbauer
From haunted houses and scary movies, to spooky costumes and
trick-or-treating recipes, Halloween is celebrated across the city in many ways. Looking
to make the weekend a memorable one? New York Family has gathered the ultimate list of local Halloween events and tips for costumes, food and staying safe (see Halloween Hazards at the very bottom) on the scariest night of the year. —
Boo-lieve
It or Not! Slumber Fest at Ripley’s Times Square
234
West 42nd Street
7pm Oct. 28 – 8am Oct. 29
Spend a night with the
ghosts and goblins of Ripley’s famous “odditorium” and haunted house.
Creepy
Cauldron Collage at CMOM
212
West 83rd Street
10am and 1pm
Craft a witchy cauldron
from cut-out shapes — perfect for brewing that spooky stew.
Halloween
in Richmond Town
441
Clarke Avenue
(Staten Island)
3:30-5pm
Celebrate a historic
Halloween with good ol’ apple bobbing and trick-or-treating.
Halloween
Murder Mystery At The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum And Garden
421
East 61st Street
6:30pm and 7:30pm
Solve a murder mystery by
candlelight … hope you’re not afraid of the dark!
Haunted
Pumpkin Garden At The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx
River Parkway
at Fordham
Road
10am-6pm
Play in a “ghord-geous”
Pumpkin House or discover pumpkin sculptures of creepy creatures.
Liberty
Science Center Spooktacular
222
Jersey City Boulevard
6pm-10pm
You’re invited to the Bug
Ball, complete with Halloween films and costume contests.
Monster
Mash At The Brooklyn Children’s Museum
145
Brooklyn Avenue
3pm-7:30pm
Go on a “terrorific”
scavenger hunt and BOOgie at the Groovy Ghouls Dance Party.
Paint-A-Pumpkin
At Moomah
161
Hudson Street
9am-5pm
Pick a pumpkin from the
patch and paint it—scary or sweet, you decide!
Scary
Stories At the Ridge At The Brooklyn Public Library Bay Ridge Branch
7223
Ridge Boulevard
3:30pm-4:30pm
Enter if you dare—it’s
scary story time at the Bay Ridge Library.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
A-scarium At The New York
Aquarium
602
Surf Avenue
11am-5pm
Freaky fish and spooky
shipwrecks make for some scary stories down on Surf Avenue.
Boo At The Bronx Zoo
2300 Southern Boulevard
11am-5pm
Animals and arts and
crafts galore are just some of the fun festivities at the Bronx Zoo.
Boo At The Queens Zoo
53-51
111th Street
11am-4pm
Pick your perfect pumpkin
and meet some furry friends who love Halloween treats, too.
Clifford’s Halloween
Parade At The Scholastic Store
557 Broadway
3pm
Take your imagination on
parade with everyone’s favorite trick-or-treating buddy, Clifford the Big Red
Dog.
Creepy Cauldron Collage At
CMOM
212
West 83rd Street
10am and 1pm
Little artists ages 4 and
under can cut out creepy critters for DIY cauldron collages.
Fourth Annual Hamilton Heights Halloween Celebration At St. Luke’s Community Garden
435
West 141st Street
10am-12pm
Share Halloween treats and
stories at St. Luke’s Garden.
Ghouls And Gourds At The Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900
Washington Avenue
12pm-6pm
What could be better than
stories and songs, plus garden tricks, treats and treasures?
Halloween Haunted Walk
& Carnival In Prospect Park
Prospect Park
12pm-3pm
Nature’s thrills are some
of the best of all, especially when you add costumes and carnival games.
Halloween Murder Mystery
At The Mount
Vernon Hotel Museum And Garden
421
East 61st Street
6:30pm and 7:30pm
Kids ages 8 and up will
puzzle out the story of a mysterious skeleton’s surprise appearance.
Halloween Spooktacular At
Citibabes SoHo
52
Mercer Street
10am
Cookies, costumes and
concerts, plus professional family photos to remember how much fun you had.
Haunted Halloween Carnival
Of Puppetry Arts At PS 372
512
Carroll Street
11am-4pm
Play carnival games,
create your own puppets and even meet R2-D2 from Star Wars.
Haunted Pumpkin Garden At The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx
River Parkway
at Fordham
Road
10am-6pm
Head to the Adventure Garden to hang out with puppets and play inside a pumpkin house.
Highland
Park Fall
Harvest Festival And Pirate Day
Elton
Street
and Jamaica
Avenue
12pm-3pm
Put on your eye patch to
hunt for treasure and cruise with Captain Jack.
Liberty Science Center Spooktacular
222
Jersey City Boulevard
6pm-10pm
Dare to play Feed the
Ghost, explore the Creepy Cafeteria and do some scary science experiments of
your own.
McNally Jackson’s Ghoulish
Gourmet School Of Halloween Cuisine
52
Prince St
11:30am
Mmm, you never know how
good putrid worm punch can be until you mix up a batch yourself.
Monster Mash At The Brooklyn Children’s Museum
145
Brooklyn Avenue
3pm-8pm
Wee ghouls can get their
groove on at this museum dance party, complete with shadow puppets and
storytelling.
Paint-A-Pumpkin At Moomah
9am-5pm
161
Hudson Street
Pretty up your pumpkins
and win a prize if you find the glow-in-the-dark bat inside!
Pumpkin Chucking At The
New York Hall Of Science
47-01
111th Street
1pm and 3pm
Watch Chuck, the giant
catapult, make pumpkins go splat!
Pumpkin Festival In Central Park
Central Park, 72nd Street Entrance
11am – 3pm
The best fall activities
including an obstacle course, crafts, marionette performances and a haunted
house.
Red Bull Trick or Treat at
Newtown Barge Park
Commercial Street
5pm-9:30pm
If hay rides aren’t your
speed, try this BMX bike competition and thrilling Halloween obstacle course. For the older ones!
The Annual Brooklyn Heights Halloween Parade
Pierrepont Playground,
foot of Pierrepont
Street
and Columbia
Heights
10:00am
Grab your Halloween gear
and go on parade!
Wonderween
550
Madison Avenue
10am-4pm
Have some haunting
Halloween fun at the lab with creepy crafts and movie screenings.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
A-scarium
At The New York Aquarium
602
Surf Avenue
11am-5pm
Things are getting spooky
under the sea with a haunted sunken ship at the A-scarium!
Boo
At The Bronx Zoo
2300 Southern Boulevard
11am-5pm
Get scared silly on a haunted
safari or spooky hayride. Little scaredy-cats will enjoy the ghost-free hay
maze.
Boo
At The Queens Zoo
53-51
111th Street
11am-4pm
Boo at the Zoo part two!
There will be a Haunted Habitat and spooky animal presentations.
Children’s
Fall Festival At The Queens County Farm Museum
73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral
Park
11am-4pm
Fall into this festival
that features a haunted house, pig races and pony rides.
Halloween
– Remixed At Flushing Town Hall
137-35 Northern Boulevard
2pm
Make a Mexican sugar skull
and scare away pesky spirits at this Day of the Dead soiree.
Halloween
Extravaganza At The Scholastic Store
557 Broadway
5pm-7pm
Try your hand (and eye) at
pumpkin bowling and eyeball relays — ewww!
Halloween
Hi-Jinks On The High Line
Seating Steps at West 22nd Street
12pm-3pm
Parade your scariest
costumes around the High Line.
Halloween
Party At Families First Brooklyn
250
Baltic Street
9:30am-12:30pm
Families First hosts a
fright fest with Halloween crafts and pumpkin decorating.
Haunted
Pumpkin Garden At The New York Botanical Garden
Bronx
River Parkway
at Fordham
Road
10am-6pm
Play in a “ghord-geous”
Pumpkin House or discover pumpkin sculptures of creepy creatures.
Arrrg
Matey! The Halloween Pirate Party At Hudson Terrace
621
West 46th Street
10am-1pm, 3pm-6pm
Put on yer eye patch and
walk the plank at this parrrty!
Bats
Alive With Rob Mies At CMOM
212
West 83rd Street
3pm and 4pm
Get batty at Rob Mies’
presentation about these winged creatures that actually aren’t so scary.
Moomah’s
Extrava-ghoul-za
161
Hudson Street
10am-3pm
Join Moomah for a haunted
funky forest exploration and spine-tingling stories.
Pumpkin
Chucking At The New York Hall Of Science
47-01
111th Street
1pm and 3pm
Meet Chuck, the catapult
that will fling pumpkins and other objects across the sky.
Spook-Tacular
Halloween At South Street Seaport
12
Fulton Street
11am-5pm
Make a sinister scarecrow
at this Spook-Tacular in the company of Curious George and the Berenstain
Bears.
The
Friends of Washington Market Park Annual Halloween Parade And Party
CitiGroup Plaza (Greenwich
Street at
North Moore
Street)
1pm-3pm
Dig for bones in the
sandbox and get lost in the hay maze at this parade and party with
entertainment galore.
The
powerHouse Arena Kids’ Halloween Party
37
Main Street
4pm-5pm
Authors Cambria Evans and
Mike Rex will read from their not-so-spine-chilling storybooks, Bone Soup and Runaway Mummy.
The
World Financial Center’s Green Halloween Celebration
200
Liberty Street
12pm-3pm
Turn your Halloween green
by making masks from recycled materials, participating in a costume swap and
gobbling up fair-trade candy treats.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 31
21st Annual Greenwich Village Children’s Halloween Parade
Washington Square Arch
3-6pm
A kiddie version of the crowded adult favorite. Bring the costumed little ones along for marching, candy and just-for-them entertainment. Marching begins promptly at 3:30 pm. Head to the Arch!
16th Annual Halloween
Celebration At The AMNH
79th
Street
and Central Park West
4pm-7pm
Surprises wait around
every corner when you go trick-or-treating through the halls of the American Museum of Natural History.
BAMboo! At The Brooklyn Academy Of Music
30
Lafayette Avenue
4pm-7pm
Enjoy plenty of games,
candy and live music at BAM’s 10th Annual Halloween extravaganza.
BOO-klyn! Halloween Parade
in Park Slope
14th
Street
and Seventh Avenue
6:30pm–8:30pm
March 13 blocks with other
amazing apparitions and celebrate with a concert at the end.
DUMBO’s Halloween
Extravaganza
Main and Plymouth Streets
4pm-7pm
Make some music at Jam on
DUMBO’s first ever Musical Halloween Parade which ends in candy fun around the
‘hood.
Halloween Family Party At
The Queens Zoo
53-51
111th Street
3pm-4:30pm
Special creature-themed
events and trick-or-treating are sure to please!
Pumpkin Painting Party at
TD Bank
2
Wall Street
11am-2pm
Don’t have a pumpkin yet?
Come decorate one!
P.S. Almost all neighborhoods have a family-friendly parade throughout the holiday weekend. So don some creative gear and get marching!
HALLOWEEN HAZARDS
By Celene McDermott
Halloween is supposed to be scary and all in
good fun, but when it comes to your children’s health and safety, there are
some real dangers that parents can’t ignore.
A study by Safe Kids USA showed that on average,
twice as many children are killed by a car while walking on Halloween night
versus any other night of the year. And while car accidents are the biggest
danger, Dr. Neal Shipley, Co-Founder of Urgent Care Manhattan on the Upper West Side says that other
accidents like burns from flammable costumes or jack-o-lanterns as well as eye
injuries from sharp swords or other costume accessories are also common.
To help, Shipley and other emergency room
doctors at Urgent Care Manhattan have prepared some tips for parents to keep in
mind to keep kids safe (and having fun!).
When trick or treating in the dark:
Parents should accompany children when they are
trick-or-treating and use reflective tape on costumes or bags to help drivers
spot trick-or-treaters.
Flashlights or glow sticks should also be
carried.
Children should avoid alleys, stay together in a
group before crossing the street, and cross at the street corners (never
between parked cars).
When preparing costumes and decorations:
Costumes, wigs and accessories should be made from
flame-resistant materials.
If your child’s costume requires knives or
swords, make sure they are soft and flexible, not rigid or sharp, to prevent
injury.
Consider using non-toxic make-up or face paint
instead of masks so children’s vision is not blocked.
Decorative contact lenses can result in serious
eye injuries and should also be avoided, according to The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Parents should avoid long, baggy or loose
costumes and oversized shoes in order to prevent children from tripping.
Keep candlelit jack-o-lanterns
away from curtains and other flammable objects. Never leave them unattended.
When attending Halloween parades:
Parades like New York City’s Greenwich
Village parade (which starts on Spring Street and Sixth Avenue and makes its way up to
16th Street) are a wonderful spectacle
for families, featuring puppets, floats, dancers, artists and thousands of
participants. However, it’s also the nation’s largest public Halloween
celebration (over 2 million people attend). As the Greenwich Village parade is extremely
loud and crowded, Jeanne Fleming, the parade’s Artistic and Producing Director,
advises parents to arrive early to get a spot as close to the parade as
possible so small children can see (and interact with the parade’s characters).
Parents should hold onto children tightly. It’s a good idea to have a meeting
place in case kids get separated. GoNYC.About.com
advises parents to dress children warmly as it can be very cold after sundown.
And in recent years, Fleming says that more and more children are choosing to
march in the parade in costume as well. See their website for more tips on
where to line up.
If you’d rather see a parade in the daylight,
meet at the Washington Square Arch for the 21st Annual
Children’s Halloween Parade at 3pm. Get your own trick-or-treat bags and enjoy fun
games and rides afterwards on LaGuardia Place. And if you’re looking
for some kid-friendly restaurants before the parade, check out some
recommendations from urbanspoon.com.
Lastly, doctors from Urgent Care Manhattan offer
some tips for parents, whether they are going to celebrate Halloween with
trick-or-treating, parades or festivals. It’s a good idea to pin a piece of
paper with the child’s full name and phone number in her costume in case she
gets separated from the group. Carrying cell phones and knowing how to call
home or call 911 in an emergency is important. And when you finally do make it
home, all candy should be inspected by parents for tampering as well as
possible choking hazards.
For more info about Urgent Care Manhattan, visit urgentcaremanhattan.com.
