More Frankenstorm fallout, this time on the sweetest, creepiest, oddly sexiest night of the year. Will Sandy ruin Halloween? From the Huffington Post:
Some children may be feeling fearful of trick-or-treating, even if mom and dad aren’t. Heading into the spookiest of holidays on the heels of a threatening natural disaster may take a toll on a young person’s psyche.
Another thing that might take a toll: being denied an annual sugar-laden ritual. Yesterday New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tweeted this act of heroic leadership in the face of holiday disaster.
If conditions are not safe on Wednesday for Trick or Treating, I will sign an Executive Order rescheduling #Halloween.
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) October 30, 2012
He wasn’t bluffing [PDF].
THEREFORE, I, CHRIS CHRISTIE, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the
Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. Celebrations of Halloween scheduled for October 31, 2012 in all parts of New Jersey shall be held on Monday, November 5, 2012.
Plans around the state have already been postponed until next week. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, the Boston Police Department “urges trick-or-treaters to ‘stay away from downed tree limbs and power lines,’ avoid neighborhoods with no power and stick with short costumes that won’t get ‘caught in debris from trees or slippery wet leaves.'”
A “wilted and dispirited” New York will likely see a less raucous celebration than in years past as millions of its residents are still without power and stranded for lack of transportation. Costumed candy-begging kids are a great indicator of urban planning and smart density, but we probably won’t be seeing much of the “trick-or-treat test” of city and housing design in play today on the East Coast.
But there’s a silver-ish lining on the dark cloud that is Hurricane Sandy. Halloween candy is pretty gross (full of beetle-based carmine, butane preservative, etc.). And in the dark, your oddly sexy Ghost of Climate Change Future costume will be that much more horrifying, especially if it’s a little damp.
