Every year on Halloween, our block and those surrounding it get cordoned off as the staging area for the big Halloween parade. The night before we watch police and others come around to bolt all the mailboxes shut and lock down all the manhole covers. By mid-afternoon, floats and groups working on the floats and groups working the giant snakes and dragons that take 10-30 people to maneuver show up, along with a few hundred police. Barricades go up at each end of our block and getting home means having to show ID. (A restaurant on the block bribes the cops with coffee and clean bathrooms, and in turn the cops let diners through.)

By 7:00 p.m. there are about 2 million spectators lining a mile worth of blocks, and about 50 thousand costumed participants ready to march in the parade.

The bottom picture shows how quiet the day begins. I went out early for a meeting midtown, then walked home and stopped by Citarella to get cockles and parsley (we made linguine with clam sauce to celebrate the parade). By 10:30 p.m. the last of the disco floats pound their way uptown and the neighborhood slowly gets back to normal. For years I'd watch it in the village and go to parties after, but now my favorite thing is to head out as the first organizers show and snap a few pictures.

The day after Halloween you'd never know it happened, except for the bits of glitter and fake fur and a shoe here and there that the street sweepers missed.