Halloween in
Hoboken, NJ a mile square
town battered by flooding from Hurricane Sandy, finally came on
November 12.
Enjoying the unseasonably warm 65 degree weather, hundreds of
families upheld the Hoboken tradition of marching down in costume
along Washington Street, once voted "Top 10 Great Streets in the
Country” (American Planning Association), in the
Annual Ragamuffin
Parade.
Princesses, superheroes, witches and zombies went trick or
treating prior to the start of the parade. By 4 pm, many Washington
Street storefronts, the primary source of Halloween candy in "the
most walkable city in America (WalkScore.com)" were posting the
"sorry no more candy" sign.
As numerous residents evacuated after Hurricane Sandy submerged parts
of the town in flood water and left a Herculean clean up task and
week-long power outages, Halloween celebrations had to be rescheduled
thrice, adding to some confusion. Several businesses missed the memo,
which was publicized on City of Hoboken (
@cityofhoboken) Twitter account and via
email, and many parents had already packed costumes away. Working
parents who had missed a week of work lamented the Halloween parade should have been
held on a weekend instead of a Monday. A few stores, like Aspen
Marketplace, had given out candy on October 31, when the flood waters
from Hudson river still submerged parts of the town and most of
Hoboken was dark.
Stores on First Street, which were ravaged by crippling floods,
generally opted out of the festivities. Since Hurricane Sandy, a
handful of businesses on First and Newark street, have decided to
permanently close.
Still Halloween spirit was on display as kids beamed in their
costumes, and businesses, especially the realtors, handed out high
value chocolate goodies instead of mints and sugar candies. Since early November, bagged
candy had been on sale at neighborhood retailers like Target for 70%
off.
The daylight savings time change likely cut into the participation in
the costume contest, which awards trophies in various age categories,
as well as for best dressed family and carriage. Even then families
from Hoboken and out of town decked out in creative costumes such as
“Pirates of the Hudson,” “Beekeeper and his bees,” and
“Sesame Street.” New to the mix was a vintage car reminiscent of
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
In a town that still has FEMA and American Red Cross outposts
scattered along with dozens of utility vans and sanitation trucks,
Hoboken's belated Halloween celebration was one more step towards
residents moving on from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.
To donate to rebuild Hoboken, please visit the
Rebuild Hoboken Relief Fund website.
Note: Also published at Yahoo Voices. Author retains copyright.
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