Pets on Parade
The only thing better than a puppy in a Halloween costume is hundreds of them promenading throughout the city. The pet processions kick off on Oct. 17 with the 36th edition of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in the East Village and the Dog Halloween Costume Contest in Washington Square Park (one of last year’s top prizes was given to a Chihuahua in a Bob Ross wig). The entertainment carries into the next day with Dogs of Mott Haven’s Howl-O-Ween at Pulaski Park in the Bronx and the Halloween Howl & Healthy Hound Fair at Carl Schurz Park on the Upper East Side.
On Oct. 24, the Riverside Park Pup Halloween Parade is at Hippo Playground on the Upper West Side, and Pawsability Dog Club and Irving Square Park Puppers host their Howl-O-Ween at Irving Square Park in Bushwick, Brooklyn. That same day, one of the more niche doggy meet-ups, the Shiba Costume Contest, brings together members of that reserved breed at Summit Rock in Central Park.
Where to Get Spooked
New York City goes all-in when it comes to Halloween. Just ask any of the 80,000 costumed participants in the Village Halloween Parade, or the thousands more who line up to take in the spectacle. It starts its march up Sixth Avenue at 7 p.m.
Some of the best Halloween happenings can be found in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. There’s the Park Slope Halloween Parade, a family-friendly stroll at dusk along Seventh Avenue between Third and 14th Streets. And then there are the lucrative trick-or-treat zones like on West 69th Street on the Upper West Side, Hamilton Terrace in Hamilton Heights, or Garden Place and Grace Court Alley in Brooklyn Heights.
But that’s just the start. This year, the Department of Transportation is expanding the Trick-or-Streets program with 160 vehicle-free areas in the city for safe Halloween frolicking. The main celebrations are at Hillel Plaza in Flatbush, Brooklyn (Oct. 22); at Water Street on Staten Island (Oct. 24); at Austin Street in Rego Park, Queens (Oct. 25); at Canal Street on the Lower East Side (Oct. 28); and at James Baldwin Plaza in the northwest Bronx (Oct. 31).
Other free kid-friendly fun on Halloween day can be had at the Halloween Harvest Festival at Socrates Park on the waterfront in Astoria, Queens; BAMboo! at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and the Dumboween March to the Arch in Dumbo, Brooklyn, which has a little bit of everything: a parade, music, costume contests (with categories for humans and pets) and lots of trick-or-treating.
Remembering the Dead
Mano a Mano’s Day of the Dead celebrations are a high point of the season. This year, the group is presenting three: at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in Washington Heights on Oct. 17, at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, and at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center on Nov. 1. Bring a portrait of a deceased loved one and set it amid the flowers, sugar skulls and other adornments on the ofrenda, an altar built in honor of the dead. All three events feature musical performances; the ones at Hispanic Society and St. Mark’s offer workshops and Mexican market pop-ups as well.
El Museo del Barrio’s Día de Muertos celebration, En Familia, which is on Oct. 17, features an ofrenda from the visual artist Diana Sofia Lozano. The Flatiron NoMad Partnership begins its Día de Muertos celebration on Oct. 26, when Mestiz studio from Mexico City installs an ofrenda on the plaza facing the Flatiron Building. The festivities kick into high gear on Oct. 28 with an afternoon of arts and crafts, culminating in a must-see performance by the Calpulli Mexican Dance Company.
Green-Wood Cemetery’s Day of the Dead Family Celebration on Nov. 2 is maybe the most atmospheric of all, with the cemetery’s neo-Gothic architecture providing a suitable backdrop for the ofrenda, activities and performances.
Cuddle at “Huddle”
In “huddle,” the talented Juana Luna, Felix Aurelius and J. Andrew Speas perform whimsical morning concerts that encourage toddlers to sing, dance and play with their parents, fostering connection and curiosity. Admission is free, but tickets go fast. They’re still available for performances on Oct. 21 and Oct. 27 to 30.
Arts for All
At Lincoln Center Open House (Oct. 24-25), families can get a taste of what New York City’s premier arts institution has to offer with a generous sampling of free events. They include dance workshops, a Broadway story time, an immersive experience involving a talking tree, live jazz and stations offering visual art and puppet-making instruction.
Take in the View
New York City’s newly opened observation deck, Centre 360, is also one of its oldest. Towering over City Hall from the cupola of the David M. Dinkins Municipal Building, the deck provides panoramic views of Manhattan, which are available to the public weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reservations are essential. Slots for October and the first week of November are currently booked, but check the website for cancellations. More spots are released on the first of every month at 10 a.m.
Chugging Into the Holidays
For many people, the winter holidays begin the day after Thanksgiving. But for some children, they start on Nov. 13, when the New York Transit Museum’s Holiday Train Show opens at Grand Central Terminal. The trains keep a-rollin’ through February around a mini city that this year includes a section of models by the artist Danny Cortes.
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