streets

A Very ‘What Is New York’ Halloween

Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Our weird city returned to its full glory this Halloween weekend: A deranged clown drove an MTA bus, a ten-foot-tall grim reaper casually strolled the streets of Chelsea, and a trio of witches took advantage of the sunny weather for some paddleboarding in the Hudson. It was the city’s first go-for-broke Halloween since the pandemic began, and we didn’t want to miss the extremes to which New Yorkers go. Over the weekend, the Curbed and New York Magazine Instagram accounts hosted What Is New York, the wildly popular IG account that compulsively posts the city’s most unsettling crowdsourced moments, to document the fun. Here are some of our favorite happenings.

This was really not the year to leave costume shopping until the last minute.

*laughs nervously*

Micromobility options in the city now apparently include magic carpets.

More creepy-clown fodder to haunt your nightmares.

There’s the 12-foot Home Depot skeleton, and then there’s whatever this is.

Couples’ costumes are one thing, but this Batman and Catwoman had the Batmobile to match.

A Very ‘What Is New York’ Halloween