The New York City Department of Transportation has announced a record number of 147 car-free Trick-or-Streets locations across the five boroughs for Halloween, including 30 locations in Queens.
Now in its third year, the Trick or Streets initiative aims to help children enjoy Halloween safely while allowing all New Yorkers to use the city’s streets safely.
DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the full list of Trick-or-Streets locations at Quisqueya Plaza at 247 Dyckman St. in Manhattan, the first Open Streets location to become a permanent pedestrianized plaza.
The DOT has partnered with 147 Open Streets, plazas and other corridors throughout New York City to add safe pedestrian space on one of the busiest holidays of the year and the days leading up to Halloween.
The Bronx will host 18 Trick-or-Streets events, while Brooklyn leads the city with 58 events. Manhattan will see 38 events, Queens has 30 scheduled and Staten Island will host three.
The DOT said New Yorkers can expect festive programming, performances, arts and crafts, fitness classes and giveaways at each of the Trick-or-Streets locations.
The majority of events are scheduled to take place between Oct. 26 and Oct. 31, with 77 of the 147 events scheduled for Halloween itself, including eight events in the Bronx, 31 in Brooklyn, 24 in Manhattan, 13 in Queens and one on Staten Island. However, a small number of Trick-or-Streets events have already taken place.
The DOT announced that ten of the Trick-or-Streets events would be “signature events” featuring Halloween-themed programming and performances, including live music, circus acts, comedic clown performances and jugglers.
Queens will host two signature events – on 165th Street from 89th Avenue to Jamaica Avenue between 3-7 p.m. on Oct. 30 and on 31st Avenue in Astoria between 35th Street and 33rd Street from 3-7 p.m. on Halloween.
A number of Trick-0r-Streets events are scheduled for Queens this weekend. The first will be held on Barton Avenue between 150th Street and 149th Place on Friday, Oct. 25, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
A further 11 events are scheduled for Saturday, including the Ditmars Boulevard Halloween Block Party between 37th Street and 33 Street on Ditmars Boulevard between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. and the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy’s annual Halloween parade, due to take place from 12-4 p.m. on Vernon Boulevard, between 50th Avenue and 46th Avenue.
Three events are scheduled on Sunday, including events on 31st Avenue in Astoria, 41st Avenue in Bayside and a parade on College Point Boulevard, while the first Queens-based signature event is scheduled to take place in Jamaica on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
On Halloween, 13 Trick-or-Streets events will take place across the borough, including the signature event on 31st Avenue in Astoria. Elsewhere, the Maspeth Lions Club will host its annual Halloween Ragamuffin Parade on Grand Avenue from 5-8 p.m., while the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District will host an event on 46th Street and Queens Boulevard from 3-5 p.m.
The Jackson Heights Beautification Group will host a parade on 37th Avenue from 4-7 p.m., while Friends of North Richmond Hill will host two events – one on 107th Street from 4-8 p.m. and another on 108th Street from 4-8 p.m.
Speaking at the launch of Trick-or-Streets on Friday, Rodriguez said the Trick-or-Streets initiative provides families with safe spaces to celebrate Halloween.
Rodriguez pointed to his own experiences taking his daughters trick-or-treating when they were little, stating that he would often look for safe locations to celebrate Halloween with his kids.
He said his experiences with his own daughters made him realize that the city should “take more responsibility” and get involved with Halloween celebrations across the five boroughs.
Rodriguez also highlighted the success of Quisqueya Plaza since it became a permanent pedestrianized plaza in 2021.
“This plaza was not what we see today,” Rodriguez said. “It was mostly dedicated to vehicular parking. Now, thanks to the Open Streets program, it is a permanent pedestrian plaza. Open Streets are making real permanent changes to make our streets safer and our quality of life better.”
He added that the Open Streets program allows the city to quickly activate a large number of car-free streets during different holidays.
“Our streets are public spaces,” he said. “They’re not only for car owners. Sometimes people believe that the streets belong to car owners, but the streets belong to everyone, to those who drive, but also to those who walk, to those who bike and to those who want to use them for cultural wellness and health.”
Trick-or-Streets initiative, part of the Open Streets, Plaza and Public Realm programming initiatives, was launched in 2022 to provide safe spaces for families on Halloween, a night that is often the deadliest night of the year in terms of child pedestrian fatalities in the USA.
One 2018 report by the Jama Network showed that children aged 4-8 are ten times more likely to be killed by a motor vehicle on Halloween than at other times in the year, while the Children’s Safety Network reports that over two times as many child pedestrians die on Halloween compared to other days throughout the year.
The Open Streets program has led to the redesign of New York City streets to create permanent, pedestrianized spaces across the five boroughs, pedestrianizing more than 1 million square feet of public space since 2022.
For a full list of Trick-or-Streets Queens locations, click here.
