You know, I always figured that the best holiday season in the world to live in New York and experience would be Christmas. The lights, the launch of it all with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Rockefeller center, window shopping on 5th ave, the list is pretty extensive in my mind.
This weekend has me thinking though. Halloween in NY is nothing short of a city wide full fledged event and the enthusiasm is incredibly contagious.
Friday night I met Wendy for a bit of a ride though Brooklyn to Bushwisk where the Critical Mass after party was being held. The location was amazing – a cavernous warehouse filled to capacity with people, almost all of whom has biked there and were in costume and the space was alive with sound.
For the first hour or so we were there the bottom floor was packed with what must have been a 30 or 40 person brass band playing everything from traditional sounding upbeat danceable jazz to Twisted Sister covers. The energy was amazing and I couldn’t help but stand in the little space I had and laugh and dance with everyone else. After the band wrapped up we explored the rest of the space and I was delighted to find a different DJ on each of the three floors as well as a beautiful and serene rooftop to chill out and check out the skyline.
The ride back to the Slope was pretty incredible as well, and I was psyched to manage my red riding hood getup – complete with bike worthy shoes and tights through the streets of the city.
If you ever have the opportunity to be in the city for future Halloweens, I would really suggest it, the train ride I took in the earlier evening was possibly one of the most entertaining ever. I shared a train with Voltron, an incredibly elaborate Corpse Bride, the entire Steve Zissou crew from “Life Aquatic”, and countless others. The amount of time, effort and consideration put into this holiday here was truly something to see.
Oh yeah, here’s a pic of me and Wendy – the cape worked out much better than I thought it would.
This morning the NYC ING marathon is running directly by apartment, I’m gonna stand outside in the sunshine and cheer a while.
