Searching for Elusive Halloween Processions

Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010

It was a sunny day, but the air was still rather cold due to the continuation of high winds. If those winds would just disappear!! But I guess that is not likely in a city that is surrounded by water.

I decided it should be a rather lazy day exploring Park Slope in Brooklyn. It is considered one of the great neighborhoods in the whole country. There are two parallel streets that serve as shopping districts for the area--5th Ave. which is more multicultural and a bit poorer, and 7th Ave. which is more upscale. Between and on either side of both streets are small tree-lined streets filled with wonderful old 2- to 4-story townhouses which often are still individual residences. I walked both streets and wandered on the side streets. I stopped at a bagel shop to get a cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese for a light lunch. Then I stopped at a park and read for about an hour.

From there, I walked to downtown Brooklyn, an area I check every time I come to New York. It was once a great government and shopping center. However, it went to seed about the time that downtowns all over America did (in the late 50s/early 60s). The potential for revival has been there, however. And somehow, Macy's, in the old Abraham and Straus Department Store building, has continued to hold on (although it has been in great need of remodeling for 30 years and still has not been touched). Well, today the area is finally going through a revitalization process. The sidewalks have been rebuilt and widened and the main street (Fulton) is being narrowed. There are now shops in almost every building, and some of the name-brand stores are coming into the area. New condominiums and offices have been built inside the district. It's such a pleasure to see this turn-around. It still isn't assured success, however. Too many of the shoppers seem to be poor Blacks and Hispanics with the whites in the neighborhood apparently driving their cars to the regional centers that are nearby. There is absolutely no reason, however, that downtown Brooklyn should not be as successful and trendy as the major retailing and government districts of Manhattan.

I was hungry for more pizza from Patsy's, so I took the train from Brooklyn to 116th Street in Manhattan. First, I walked to Costco and bought a cola. There, I enjoyed having dinner appetizers--Caribbean cheese with mango chutney, Irish cheese with bagel chip, guacamole with tortilla chips, bourbon-flavored boneless chicken wings, Italian bread dipped in spicy Italian sauce, pretzel M&Ms, warm cinnamon roll, etc. From there, I walked the two blocks to Patsy's and had a slice of plain pizza.

It was 5:30 p.m. by then, so I returned to the room and read for about two hours. It being Saturday night and the night before Halloween, I figured people would be out in costumes, so I left at 8:00 in search of them. I went to Greenwich Village where several got off the train and walked down the streets, but there was no critical mass of them to enjoy on the sidewalks. I took a train to Times Square thinking maybe they would be there showing off. A few were, including a man in a sailor uniform and a woman in a petticoat skirt recreating the famous picture from the end of WWII and a group of men in soft body pajamas. But again, there were crowds of people with few of them being in costume. I headed back to Greenwich Village to find things had not improved. Then I walked through SoHo where I saw more than elsewhere. None were parading for the benefit of watchers, however. They all seemed to be going to parties. Surprisingly, I saw more in the neighborhood closest to my apartment than anywhere else, but maybe that was because it was then 10:00 p.m. and time for going to parties. I'm quite sure now that that was the goal of those who were out tonight. Tomorrow will be when they are out for showing off to the public, and I plan to be there.