Parents in at least two city neighborhoods plan to take their children trick-or-treating — in defiance of a mayoral request to keep them home.
Matt Higbee took his three children, ages 3, 5 and 7, to the playground while schools were closed for the clean-up of Superstorm Sandy. Fifty kids were there with their parents. So he sees no reason to keep his children home Wednesday night. He plans to take them trick-or-treating, usually an especially elaborate ritual in his stretch of Westville, drawing families from other neighborhoods.
“I feel that if it was safe enough for us to be outside with our children yesterday [on the playground], then it is safe enough for a little trick-or-treating tonight,” Higbee reasoned.
In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, Mayor John DeStefano called on parents to keep their children home Wednesday night rather than allow them to go Halloween trick-or-treating. He asked parents to wait a week and take the kids out on Wednesday, Nov. 7. Other regional mayors issued similar requests.
Downed wires and ongoing power outages will probably still make some streets dangerous for kids to traverse at night, the mayor said. “I don’t see any reason we should be putting our children at risk. I would suggest folks skip trick-or-treating and stay home and have a wonderful time. It’s the safe and right thing to do.”
“Because our street has no downed wires and the majority of houses maintained power, several families have decided to proceed with trick or treating. There has been some backlash from people that want to adhere to the mayor’s recommendation, so I anticipate that we will end up having two Halloweens this year,” Higbee reported. “This is not super organized, but rather a bunch of people that plan to go up and down West Rock and the section of West Elm from Yale to Central.”
“To my mind, there’s a key question: if trick or treating isn’t safe, what is?,” argued Tim Holahan, another Westville parent who plans to defy the mayor’s request. “Because school is closed, I just walked my daughter to her grandparents house a couple blocks away. Was that dangerous?”
“Since storms like this are likely to be more frequent in the future, it seems New Haven will have to develop a more measured and appropriate response to the aftermath.”
In East Rock, as well, some parents are planning to defy the no-trick-no-treat directive, according to Alderman Justin Elicker.
“There has been a lot of excitement and everyone has an opinion on whether or not to trick-or-treat tonight,” Elicker reported. “The majority of residents I’ve heard from are planning on going out tonight, local conditions permitting. Since we don’t have a very developed notification system in the city for reaching out to residents, it’s difficult for everyone to be notified and therefore likely that many people didn’t get John [DeStefano]‘s message to postpone Halloween. The mayor’s delaying Halloween surely makes sense in neighborhoods that were more severely impacted by the storm.
“Perhaps we’ll end up having two Halloweens, which isn’t a bad thing for such a fun holiday.”
Update: Westville Alderman Adam Marchand emailed constituents Wednesday urging them to abide by the mayor’s recommended postponement. Here’s what he wrote:
“Our Mayor and his counterparts from West Haven, East Haven, and Branford have recommended that all Halloween activities be postponed one week until Wednesday, November 7th. I strongly support this recommendation. Even though the storm is over, we are not out of the woods just yet. Some streets still have no power, and therefore no street lights. Many trees have been weakened by Hurricane Sandy, and we need to have a little more time to feel confident that more limbs won’t fall. In addition, many power lines fell these past few days, some of which are quite small and difficult to see in the dark. It is true that UI crews have done a good job dealing with these issues, but sometimes power lines can be energized unpredictably and without warning. I have been all over our Ward, and I have seen a great deal of damage to power lines, including loose and sagging wires in addition to downed lines. As a result, I urge all of you to refrain from walking around the neighborhood tonight. Let’s do our trick-or-treating next Wednesday.
“I have heard of some neighbors making plans for small-scale, block-specific trick-or-treating. I ASK THAT YOU NOT DO THIS AFTER DARK. Believe me, I understand the urge to get the kids out tonight; my boys have been looking forward to Halloween for weeks. In the end, safety trumps all. If you do go out with your children after dark, don’t be surprised if you see me out there, in my bright yellow vest, asking folks to go home. Safety first.”