NYC Halloween 2021: A Guide To Spooky Season

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers looking to scare up a good time this Halloween don't have to look hard.

Ghosts haunt old buildings and streets. Parades of costumed revelers stalk neighborhoods. Trick-or-treaters don't let themselves get spooked out of a candy quests.

And perhaps scariest of all, soon-to-be lame duck Mayor Bill de Blasio — and noted Star Trek bumbler — has some holiday tips.

"First of all, stay outside," he said. "If you’re a trick-or-treater or you're taking your trick-or-treaters around, keep them outside. It's safest outside. That's where everyone's going to have the best time. Second of all, if you're giving out treats yourself, wear a mask like we do to protect everyone against COVID."

Now that safety talk is out of the way, here's a quick rundown of Halloween activities.

Village Halloween Parade

It's alive!

The Village Halloween Parade is reanimating for its 48th rendition Sunday after coronavirus-related hiatus.

"This year's Parade is dedicated to the Children of NYC who could not celebrate Halloween last year," the organizers of the event wrote on its website. "This year we are inviting them to design the giant Puppets that lead the Parade!"

But take note: while the parade is a free public event, only those wearing costumes and masks are welcomed to actually join the procession.

The parade starts at 7 p.m. and ends around 11 p.m, but it generally takes until around 9 p.m. for the parade to start moving from its gathering place on 6th Avenue between Spring Street and Canal Street.

The parade runs straight up 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) from Spring Street to 16th Street. The streets are most crowded between Bleecker and 14th Street.

New Yorkers who can't make the parade can still watch it on NY1 from 8 to 9:30 p.m.

Read more about the parade here.

"Real" haunted houses

Hauntings make for great stories, even for people who don't believe in ghosts.

New York City may be a sprawling modern metropolis, but its bones are old.

There's Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights, which has a history going back before the Revolutionary War. A wealthy widow's spirit has been known to show up to shush school children from the balcony.

"It's a very active location," Angela Artuso, director of the Gotham Paranormal Research Society, told Patch last year. "Every time we have events there somebody always leaves with an experience like a disembodied voice or knocking."

Partiers down in FiDi might want to take a look at Fraunces Tavern. The historic building where George Washington gave his farewell address to his troops now doubles as a restaurant and museum.

Footsteps and disembodied voices have been reported by staff, Artuso told Patch.

People who visited Chinatown are probably familiar with the odd bend on Doyer Street. But many probably don't know about its past — gangs armed with hatchets once battled for control of it, inspiring the street's moniker of the "Bloody Angle."

A recent Inside Edition online story featured ghostly voices heard on the street apparently responding to cues in Chinese language.

Read more about haunted places in New York City here.

Patch writer Gus Saltonstall contributed to this report.