While today is technically Halloween, it's unclear when the holiday actually falls this year as officials in the states hit by the storm have postponed festivities. In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie signed an executive order postponing the holiday until Monday, saying in a press release that as the aftermath of the storm is still under assessment it is his "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." Kids in Connecticut will have to wait even longer: The New Haven Register reports that the spooky fun has been rescheduled in some towns for November 7. PhillyBurbs.com indicates in some locales trick-or-treating will happen on Saturday.
But the decision to postpone Halloween is not without controversy. Slate's Emily Bazelon, a New Haven dweller, writes that she doesn't want Halloween to be postponed (and her local alderman has given the go ahead for parents to use their judgment):
It's balmy outside, in the calm after the storm. I'm hearing from other parents whose kids, like mine, are itching to go. They've spent two days home from school, some houses don't have power, and we could all use the diversion. Plus Halloween in our neighborhood is a community-wide pick me up. As in a lot of places, I think, a couple of streets deck themselves out in a bonanza of decorating and become ooh-and-ah Trick or Treat Central.
Halloween: the perfect way to cure kids with cabin fever. KJ Dell'Antonia at the New York Times' Motherlode blog suggests putting together makeshift festivities: "I find myself paraphrasing those lines from 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas:' 'He HADN’T stopped Halloween from coming! IT CAME!' Sandy (not towns and mayors doing their best) is the Halloween Grinch this year, and maybe there is a little bit of Halloween spirit or message to be found."
New York hasn't exactly stopped Halloween, but Mayor Blooomberg did postpone the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, hadn't been canceled in 39 years. But as the parade's director wondered: "It’s always on Halloween. So there’s a whole spiritual question—if you don’t do it on Halloween, what does that mean?"
Image by Monkey Business Images via Shutterstock
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