7 Things That Happen in New York City on Halloween That Shock the Rest of New York

Halloween in a small New York town often means a porch light, a bowl of candy, and a few trick-or-treaters.

New Yorkers in the city can have a very different night in mind, and it often starts before dark.

Here’s how the city celebrates, and why it surprises the rest of the state.

1. Village Halloween Parade

The Village Halloween Parade steps off on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m., according to the parade’s website.

This year’s edition is the 53rd annual.

The usual rain-or-shine promise now includes wind, so you should plan to go either way.

Time Out‘s Oct. 2 guide puts the route on 6th Avenue, from Canal Street up to 15th Street.

The parade wraps up around 11 p.m.

2. Trick-or-Streets

Trick-or-Streets, the mayor’s office says, adds five Halloween signature events, one in each borough, to its 160 car-free streets and plazas.

The five events begin in Brooklyn on Thursday, Oct. 22, and finish in the Bronx on Halloween, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Queens’ event is on Austin Street on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 5 p.m.

If you’re reading this before 2 p.m. on Sunday, you can still make it.

Manhattan’s follows at Canal Open Street and Division Plaza on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 3 to 7 p.m.

You’ll find trick-or-treating, face painting, live entertainment and games.

A Brooklyn parents’ guide, Brooklyn Bridge Parents, says 45 of the borough’s blocks and plazas will be car-free on Halloween, with hours that vary by block.

3. Boo at the Zoo

If you’d rather spend Halloween in daylight, the Bronx Zoo calls Boo at the Zoo its annual daytime family-friendly Halloween celebration.

The celebration runs Saturdays and Sundays from Sept. 26 through Nov. 1, so Saturday, Oct. 31, falls inside it.

It suits toddlers, preschoolers and elementary-aged children.

Time Out‘s October calendar lists a hay bale adventure course, carnival-themed inflatable games and magic and mind-reading shows.

The event comes with your Bronx Zoo admission.

Members enter free.

4. Jackson Heights Halloween Parade

In Queens, the Jackson Heights Halloween Parade is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, according to Mommy Poppins' 2026 guide.

You line up at 89th Street and 37th Avenue and march down 37th Avenue to Public School 69.

The Jackson Heights Beautification Group, which hosts the parade, calls it the largest children's parade in the city.

Thousands of children and their families take to the streets in costume every October.

If you're coming with kids, expect goodie bags and marching bands.

5. BAMboo!

BAMboo! is the Brooklyn Academy of Music's annual Halloween celebration, and it runs from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.

You'll find carnival games, arts and crafts and candy giveaways, indoors and outdoors.

The Peter Jay Sharp Building at 30 Lafayette Ave. hosts it, and you can come in costume.

Admission is free.

6. Dumboween

Dumboween is Dumbo's Halloween march to the arch, set for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, with brass bands and puppets leading the way, according to the Brooklyn Bridge Parents guide.

You gather on Washington Street, between Front and Water streets.

The Archway Party runs from 3:30 to 6 p.m., with crafts, a photo booth, live music, candy and costume prizes.

More than 60 local businesses hand out candy around the neighborhood from 3 to 6 p.m.

If you're heading to Dumbo that afternoon, bring a bag for the candy.

7. Park Slope's Parade

Park Slope's Halloween parade steps off at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Seventh Avenue and 14th Street, according to a Brooklyn parents' guide.

If you're marching, line up by 6 p.m.

If you'd rather watch, the route ends at the Old Stone House.

The Park Slope Civic Council hosts it under this year's theme, “The Haunted Forest of Brooklyn.”

This year, an orange-and-black vintage Ford leads the way.

Marching in the Village Halloween Parade

The Village Halloween Parade lets anyone in costume join the march, the parade's website says.

Many people in the rest of New York think of a parade as something you watch, not something you walk in.

Time Out reports that marching is free, but costumes are mandatory.

The procession lines up at 6th Avenue and Canal Street and rolls out from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

That means marchers get going before the parade's 7 p.m. start.

The north and west entrances to 6th Avenue will be blocked off by 6:30 p.m.

If you show up after that, you join the line from East Broome, Sullivan and Canal streets, east of 6th Avenue.

Time Out says the parade draws more than 50,000 zombies, ghouls, witches, monsters, robots, Jedis and giant puppets.

You won't march alone.

Brooklyn's Daytime Parades

If you'd rather start Halloween early, the Brooklyn Bridge Parents guide lists Brooklyn parades well before Park Slope's 6:30 p.m. start.

The Brooklyn Heights Association's costume parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. from the north end of the Promenade and ends at the south end, where a bake sale follows.

In Greenpoint, the fourth annual McGhoulrick Halloween starts at noon in McGolrick Park, with trick-or-treating, games, crafts, a costume parade and a dance party.

The Cobble Hill Association's parade leaves Cobble Hill Park at 4 p.m.

There's no registration.

You just turn up in costume.

The Old Anti-Mask Law

The New-York Historical Society's blog post on Halloween masks covers a state anti-mask law.

Until 2020, it made it a crime to loiter or gather in public in a masked or disguised group.

Its wording covered people who loitered, remained or gathered in a public place with others masked or disguised by unusual or unnatural attire or facial alteration.

If you broke it, you faced a criminal violation and a possible 15-day sentence, the attorney general's office says.