Get Spooky with Halloween Activities in NYC

It’s mid-October, there’s a chill in the air and Halloween is just around the corner! There’s many different activities leading up to October 31, as one might expect in a city as vibrant as New York. Take your pick from a selection that includes jack o’lantern viewings, spooky gardens, cemetery story-telling, a show-stopping annual parade, and a new kind of haunted house. Happy Halloween!

The New York Botanical Garden hosts an action-packed schedule of events for the whole family that transform the garden into a space of Halloween fun. Join in pumpkin parades and pumpkin carving face-offs, as well as the popular beer sampling weekend, Bales & Ales!

There’s even spooky pumpkin garden nights with flashlight guided tours where children can discover skeletons and jack o’lanterns, decorate gourds and collect treats. Events run through November 12, 2023.

NYBG

2900 Southern Boulevard

Bronx, NY 10458

Wear your costume and share in the Halloween spirit at the annual Village Halloween Parade. This is surely New York City’s most all-out, extravagant parade of the season. The parade is a huge event with 100’s of puppets that will illustrate the Theme: Mirror Mirror, in a moment of self-contemplation and reflection.

Expect more than 35 bands, dancers and other artists showcasing their work on this 50th anniversary of the Village Halloween Parade. Participants can join the parade— in costume only— and can create a character around the parade’s theme if they wish: this year it’s “Upside/Down : Inside/OUT!” Prepare to be amazed! The Halloween Parade runs up Sixth Ave from Spring St to 16th St in Manhattan. Thursday, October 31, 2023 from 7pm–10:30pm

Central Park’s annual Halloween Pumpkin Flotilla is fun for the entire family, and a major chance to show off your pumpkin carving skills. Here’s how the flotilla works: carve your pumpkin at home, bring it to the Charles A. Dana Center between 4 and 5:30pm, and drop it off at a designated site. While you’re waiting for the sun to go down, there’s a variety of children’s activities, including crafting, storytelling, scavenger hunts, and a spirited Halloween parade.

Then at twilight, gather at the edge of the Harlem Meer to watch the procession of illuminated jack o’lanterns float gently by. The event takes place Thursday October 26 from 4:00 to 7:00pm.

Charles A. Dana Discovery Center

(inside the Park at 110th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues)

New York, NY 10011

With the tagline, “No Fear. Just Fun.”, Halloween House promises less horror and more festivity at the Oculus this October as it transforms the shopping center and transit hub into an immersive space with different themes. Where traditional haunted houses are big on the scare factor with the unexpected, this all-ages Halloween House plans to entertain “through meticulously detailed environments, devoid of actors, jump scares, and strobe lights,” per a press release. Themed rooms include: Glow in the Dark, the Vampires’ Lair, a Horror Movie Graveyard, an indoor pumpkin patch and much more. Halloween House runs through Wednesday, November 1. Tickets are available at the Halloween House website.

Oculus

185 Greenwich St LL3110

New York, NY 10006

The historic Green-Wood Cemetery is an ideal scary spot for nighttime Halloween fun. The sprawling Brooklyn cemetery is the final resting spot of nearly half a million New Yorkers, both famous and unknown. This year, there are two not-to-be-missed events at the cemetery.

1. The first event is Green-Wood After Hours on October 13, 14, 27 & 28, times vary. Under a cloak of stars, visitors weave through the Cemetery’s stunning landscape and visit the graves of fascinating figures in New York and American history. If you’re not spooked already, this popular walking tour ends with a visit to the Catacombs, which are normally closed to the public. Tickets are $25-30
2. The second event is Nightfall: la Danse Macabre on October 19 and 20 from 7-10pm. Nightfall is the crowning event of Green-Wood’s fall season, and an homage to the danse macabre or dance of death. Dating to the Middle Ages, the dance was reputed to entice kings, cardinals, and common folk to their graves with musical accompaniment. It’s a poignant reminder that the same fate awaits us all, but until then, we shake off fears and celebrate with dance. Tickets are $75 to $100.

Green-Wood Cemetery

Fifth Avenue and 25th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11232

The Lombardy Hotel’s timeless elegance is iconic to Midtown Manhattan. Our rooms are spacious, comfortable and thoughtfully designed to make you feel at home. We look forward to hosting you on your next visit to New York City.

*Due to Covid-19 our restaurant, cafe and gym will remain closed for a time.