Insider Halloween Family Favorites: The Bronx
The Bronx is home to many family-favorite Halloween activities. So get in your car or hop a train and come up, down or over to our fun, fascinating borough. I am proud to live in the Bronx and my family loves to explore its many haunts—especially at Halloween! Although many kids do go trick or treating from door to door, we tend to favor the organized Halloween gatherings. Below find some of the best bets. By Renee Smith.
Boo At The Bronx Zoo
2300 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10460
(718) 220-5100
bronxzoo.com
Every weekend in October, The Bronx Zoo is celebrating Halloween with a wide range of activities sure to suit every family. My favorite thing about it? Kids in costume get in free! So, not only will you save money, but your kids can participate in a costume parade! Enjoy magic shows, live music, special puppet presentations crafts, and pumpkin-carving demonstrations. Or hop on a hay ride, get lost in a hay maze or embark on a haunted safari.
Halloween Hoorah at the New York Botanical Gardens
Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road
Bronx, NY 10458
(718)817-8700
nybg.org
We in the Bronx love The New York Botanical Garden. What better place to watch Autumn turn leaves into gold, red and orange? And NYBG fans love the Everett Children's Adventure Garden, where there are always hands-on activities that enable children to connect with nature. And the Halloween Hoorah event pulls out all the stops. Every day through October 31st there are a myriad of activities to celebrate the season. Although they vary by day, events include Halloween parades, ghostly leaf rubbing, cider pressing, applesauce making and apple stamping. And while you're there, you may run into my son and me checking out the giant pumpkins—three of America's largest are on display in the Leon Levy Visitor Center.
Van Cortlandt Park
Broadway, Jerome Avenue, City Line, Van Cortlandt Park South
Bronx, NY
(718)430-1890
nycgovparks.org/parks/VanCortlandtPark/events
Halloween holds lots in store for families at Van Cortlandt Park –and all the events are free! Head over to the Canine Court at noon on Halloween for "Howl-o-ween", a dog dress-up competition. (There is a $10 fee if you want to enter your pooch in the contest.) Then at 1pm head over to the Van Cortlandt Nature Center or the Van Cortlandt Park Stadium where the Urban Park Rangers are hosting a "Halloween Eco-Crafts" event at both locations. Then at 2pm kids ages 2-10 can participate in the "Fun Run" at Van Cortland Park Stadium where they can race in costume--and in character!
An insider tip to trick-or-treating in the Bronx: make sure to check out the Morris Park area - it has
several apartment buildings and multi-family homes.
Renee Smith is a Bronx mom who writes for Me and George Bailey (meandgeorgebailey.blogspot.com).
