Because most New Yorkers live in apartment buildings, traditional trick-or-treating on Halloween becomes difficult. Some kids trick-or-treat within their building, some go door to door at stores and restaurants, and some hit streets lined with mostly single-resident homes which open their doors to trick-or-treaters. On Halloween night, I headed down to just such a street – West 69th – to see the festivities.

This street has a long-standing tradition of being one of the best spots in the city for families on All Hallows Eve. Traffic shuts down from Central Park West to Broadway, and the street fills with people. Families and children run from door to door, friends and neighbors smile and socialize in the street, and teenagers mingle on the sidewalk, almost everyone in costume. Homeowners cover their houses in elaborate themed decor and dress their entire family to match. Brownstones become pirate ships filled with scalawags or haunted mansions filled with ghouls. People create spook alleys in their hallways and invite passerby to enter for a thrill. Music plays from front porches, and smoke rises from smoke machines disguised as pirate cannons.

The atmosphere on 69th could not be beat. Everyone was having a good time, the weather was perfectly crisp and fall-ish, the houses were decked out to the max, and the costumes were incredible. I loved seeing the amazing costumes people came up with, especially the families who chose a theme and all matched. SO CUTE! I took about three million pictures.

After Klane got off work, he joined me and we walked the street one more time, pointing out the better decorations or costumes we saw. It was such a fun night and a great way to celebrate Halloween in the city (without risking running into too many crazies, a la the Village Halloween Parade). We had falafel sandwiches for dinner at Maoz and then came home for our own private screening of Troll 2 – the best worst movie ever made, a perfect movie for Halloween. It was exactly how I wanted to spend my Halloween.