Hackettstown Halloween Still Set for Saturday

Effective immediately, Halloween is postponed in New Jersey.

Gov. Chris Christie issued an executive order declaring that no New Jersey town can hold trick-or-treating on Wedsnesday. If towns had planned to do so, they must move trick-or-treating and any public celebrations to Monday.

Towns that already moved trick-or-treating to another day other than Oct. 31 can keep their plans, but state officials are still suggesting Monday instead.

In Hackettstown, trick-or-treating hours were postponed earlier in the week to Saturday, Nov. 3 from 4 to 9 p.m. Depending on clean-up progress made, the town hopes to keep it that way.

"As of now, the trick-or-treating hours will remain the same in Hackettstown," Mayor Maria DiGiovanni said. "But we're also looking at it day by day, and if the roads and walkways are still unsafe, we'll look at moving it again."

That thought process was in lockstep with the Governor's, too.

“I’ve taken this action to minimize additional risks to lives and the public safety as we begin the process of rebuilding and recovering from Hurricane Sandy,” Christie said in a statement. “In too many communities in our state, the damage and losses from this storm are still being sorted out, and dangerous conditions abound even as our emergency management and response officials continue their work.

“As governor, it is my responsibility to use all available resources of the state government to protect against the emergency created by Hurricane Sandy – postponing Halloween celebrations by five days is a commonsense and necessary step to accomplish that.”