Hurricane Sandy Ravaged Hoboken Finally Celebrates Halloween

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.