Trick or Treat, Brooklyn Style

I have great memories of trick or treating in my suburban midwestern neighborhood. By the time we were in upper elementary school, we were allowed to go on our own, knocking door to door in a 1950s neighborhood of low-slung ranch houses, really and truly named Friendly Hills. I remember my college roommate, born and bred in Manhattan, telling me about trick or treating door to door within her high-rise apartment complex; to me, this was just unfathomable: half the excitement of Halloween came from the chill in the air, and that very particular smell - something like a bonfire of burning leaves - that would be completely lost indoors.

In Brooklyn, there aren't enough houses to go door to door, but most people don't live in large apartment complexes either, so kids trick or treat at the local businesses along the main commercial thoroughfares of 5th and 7th avenues.

Here's Clio exiting the Polish grocery (at 500+ varieties, they boast the most types of beer in Brooklyn!)

And here I am outside of, well, another Polish grocery, this one with lots of sausages in the window.


We also got treats at newsstands, coffee shops, laundromats, and the wine store. Here's Clio with Margo and Lydia, outside the health food store where we tried to corral them, somewhat unsuccessfully, into one shot. (Lydia's mom Liz claims she got it, so we'll see if I can get those from her to post.)


Dave and I were a little worried about the candy factor, and spent a long time last night discussing how to deal with it. Clio has never had candy, and while we both feel two is a bit young for it, I just hate the idea of putting her in a situation with lots of other kids where she's the only one who can't have something. But it worked itself out. The health food store gave out apples, natch, and Clio could not have been more thrilled.


At Has Beans, one of the local coffee shops, the barrista told me that Clio said "Happy Treat!" mixing together the days two main salutations, Happy Halloween and Trick or Treat. Getting an evening of family time with lots of friends was a happy treat indeed.