PS 25 Band marches and plays in their Halloween costumes.
One year ago, Halloween was among the casualties of Hurricane Sandy. All things considered, a pretty minor casualty. Halloween was officially postponed, and most schools postponed or cancelled Halloween celebrations since the schools that were able to open were only opening the Monday after the storm which was November 5. Of course most famously, New York's Halloween parade was cancelled.
In the Heights in Jersey City, the merchants on Central Avenue, the main business district, always hand out candy on Halloween afternoon after school, and it is really a community celebration. Parents bring their kids out in costume, you greet your neighbors, everyone wishes everyone a happy Halloween. We admire the beautiful babies in their adorable costumes. But last year the power was still out on Central Avenue for a week after the storm, so even if Halloween had not been officially postponed there would have been no celebration here.
Many people are still recovering from the storm, and I don't want to minimize the damage to parts of New Jersey that have still not recovered. Even in the Heights, the gazebo is still down in Riverview Fisk Park, and some businesses on Central Avenue did not reopen, a consequence of the economic downturn combined with the storm. Here's a link to a story from a local publication about Jersey City one year later.
But recovery is also real, and it was fun yesterday to have Halloween restored. The local elementary school had their Halloween parade in the morning; the band played, and the kids paraded around the sidewalk outside the school.
And Central Avenue was crowded with kids and parents and folks handing out candy from in front of their brightly lit shops. Elmo even made an appearance. We greeted many neighbors on the Avenue, handed out candy from our front porch until we ran out, and enjoyed the vitality of our neighborhood.