Community Corner

The Little Parade That Could

Despite damage to streets, brownstone Brooklyn will carry on with Cobble Hill Halloween Parade


After Superstorm Sandy ravaged trees, flooded streets and ripped down siding, it was almost the year that Halloween forgot in New York City. But one little Brooklyn neighborhood is still burning a candle inside its jack-o-lantern of hope.

The Cobble Hill Association reached out to its community late Tuesday night to say that despite everything, they will carry on with their Halloween parade.

"We may have been hit by a massive storm, our trees may be down and our parks, schools and mass transit system may be closed," president Roy Sloane wrote in an e-mail to Patch. "but there will be a Cobble Hill Halloween Parade."

Find out what's happening in Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

All members of the public are invited to attend the afternoon spectacle, which will begin at 4 p.m. outside Cobble Hill Park.

As one of the only celebrations in town still taking place, perhaps it may draw a larger attendance than usual: The Village Halloween Parade in Manhattan has been canceled, as has Park Slope's traditional children's march. Even the Smashing Pumpkins show at Barclays Center has been postponed.

Find out what's happening in Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Because of the storm, Sloane did tell Patch that the festivities will be slightly altered from years past.

"We will not be allowed to congregate in Cobble Hill Park due to fallen trees and the fact that all NYC parks are officially closed," he said. "So we are asking people to meet in front of the park at the Clinton Street entrance."

Parade-goers will then follow a steel band north to Congress Street, then west on Congress Street down to Henry Street, then south on Henry. They will stop for some drumming and revelry with the elderly residents of the Cobble Hill Health Center before carrying on down Warren for one more block, hang a left back onto Clinton Street and then back to the entrance of the park.

"We are feeling so fortunate to be able to host the parade under these circumstances that we may just go around the route again!" he said. "We are deeply grateful to the 76th Precinct for agreeing to honor our parade permit."

And he is extending the invitation to all neighborhoods.

"All ghosts, vampires, super heroes and aliens—wherever they may live—are invited to the Cobble Hill Halloween Parade," Sloane said.

So put down your mops, put on a costume and let's all help the littlest Halloween parade keep goulish spirits alive.


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