I had never truly experienced Halloween until I went to New York City to celebrate last year. One of my good friends from college knew someone who lived in Brooklyn, and he invited us to stay with him for the weekend. My friend had decided to dress up as a pirate and I would go as an embodiment of the sin “Envy”. Now, we had both been to NYC many times before, but never crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, and let me tell you, we were a tad bit scared even before the Halloween celebrations began. Pirate’s friend said in passing as we arrived “Oh, by the way, I hope you weren’t planning on wearing blue here because you might get stabbed”. (Luckily her bandana was a safe shade of red). After settling into the apartment and getting ready, we hopped on the subway and crossed back over to Manhattan. We walked around SoHo, stopped for Falafel in the Village, and ended up going into the somewhat eerie “Evolution Nature Store” to get into the Halloween spirit. There they sell craniums, stuffed animals, and butterflies pinned inside glass cases, etc. We ended our night on Manhattan in Greenwich Village where the annual Halloween Parade is held. Unfortunately that night was particularly cold and rainy, but the parade still went on and every onlooker was dressed for the occasion in various creative costumes. Getting back to Brooklyn afterward was rather tricky as the subway system is far from perfect, so if I go back this year I’ll try to find living arrangements on the “right” side of the bridge.
