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Park Slope Halloween Parade draws crowd of ghouls and goblins

PARK SLOPE — A few thousand superheroes, villains, anime characters and princesses flocked to Park Slope on Thursday, Oct. 31, for the annual Park Slope Civic Council Children’s Halloween Parade.

Instead of bundling up under their favorite costume, the ghouls and goblins were in for a “spooktacular” treat, enjoying the record-breaking temperatures as they lined up along the parade route, which started at Seventh Avenue and 14th Street, making its way down the Avenue and Third Street to the historic Old Stone House, one of the event’s sponsors. 

Before the parade kicked off at 6:30 p.m., scores of eerie characters swarmed Seventh and Fifth Avenues and the neighborhood, where businesses and brownstone dwellers handed out a never-ending supply of Halloween treats. 

Hailey Sosa went hunting for candy with her two cousins along Seventh Avenue, wearing a La Catrina costume, a symbol of the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos, celebrated on Nov. 1. The costume showed off Sosa’s creative and spiritual side.

“No matter how old you get, you’re never too old to express the fun, creative side of yourself,” Sosa said. 

The Park Slope Civic Council Children’s Halloween Parade has been around since 1986 and is touted as the largest children’s Halloween parade. This year’s parade Grand Marshal was Mark Caserta, vice president of Small Business Support for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. 

“[The parade] seems bigger and better than ever, with lots of action and lots of smiles on people’s faces,” Caserta told Brooklyn Eagle. “It brings the community together.”

A sentiment echoed by New York City Comptroller and longtime Park Sloper Brad Lander, who was sporting a large replica of a Nintendo Switch controller because it is “time for a switch,” the mayoral candidate declared. 

“It’s so great to see the neighborhood all come out,” Lander said. “I have a lot of nostalgia for when my kids were little. One year, we had a family ensemble costume where my son was Spiderman, my wife was MJ, I was Doc Ock and our little baby Rosa was the spider. It’s been a lot of great years in this neighborhood, and we want to keep it a neighborhood that families love.” 

After the parade, the pint-sized ghouls and their parents gathered at the Old Stone House for a haunted sing-along with Brooklyn Conservatory of Music musicians.  

Looking at the crowd, Ron Weiss, secretary of the Park Slope Civic Council, expressed the turnout was “pretty good.” 

“There’s a whole lot of people having a whole lot of fun,” Weiss said. “It gives me the same thing that’s on your face, which is a smile.”

Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House, has been organizing the event for 18 years alongside Susan Fox, founder of Park Slope Parents. Maier described the parade as magical because it showed Park Slope’s creative side. When Maier became executive director of the historic site, she suggested having the parade culminate at the Old Stone House. 

“It’s just a wonderful opportunity to bring the whole community together at the end of the parade for a little dance and community engagement,” Maier said. “It just feels like a small town in the best possible way.”

Friends Soumya, Justin, Jordan and Jen were handing out candy on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Third Street outside Park Slope’s favorite watering hole, “The Gate,” after the parade, which they thought was “amazing.” 

“It brings the whole community together,” Justin said. 

Jordan added, “It’s Mardi Gras for children.”