What’s the best Halloween display you’ve seen in Queens? In what neighborhood? Let us know in the comments, Queensicans. Show us pictures, as Halloween will soon be upon us!

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I wander around with a camera in hand, shooting everything that doesn’t shoot back. For the last couple of weeks, a point has been made to record the scene as Queens gets dressed up for the forthcoming Halloween holiday.

So far, the 2013 Pumpkin Prize goes to this arrangement which I spotted on Broadway, across the street from Long Island City High School…

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A matched pair in Astoria, the cyclops above and inebriate below lie in wait on the stoop of a bar on 31st Avenue in Astoria.

I’ve seen some amazing Halloween decorations over in Sunnyside Gardens as well, but haven’t managed to get a decent picture of them yet. The whole neighborhood is covered in spider webs and tombstones and grinning skulls.

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This was some sort of applique, I think, attached to the skin of the seasonal cultivar.

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Forgive the quality of the shot above, as I only had my phone with me when I ran into this tableau nearby the borders of Astoria, Woodside, and Sunnyside. Neighborhood informants instruct that this is an “old school” Astoria Cucurbita pepo technician at work.

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Over in Calvary Cemetery, several graves were adorned with applique clad pumpkins. One of them was hollowed out, lending an unintentional intonation of a horror movie scene to its appearance. Fear not, for I can assure you there was no zombie squash loose on the grounds, eager for pumpkin brains.

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The culprits are a race of Lagomorphs, who exist in the cemetery in untold multitudes. (Note: the photo above is not retouched, they actually have red eyes as seen above.) 

Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman lives in Astoria and blogs at Newtown Pentacle.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I live in FH and no, there’s really no interesting displays of pumpkins to be found here. Sadly, kids don’t even go trick-or-treating in Forest Hills on Halloween, other than hitting up a very few shops around Austin St. The problem is there are mostly apartment buildings in FH, which kids can’t get into. While there are many homes in the FH Gardens area, 99% of them would never open their door to a trick-or-treater, hence why so many parents end up taking their kids to other friendlier neighborhoods on Halloween.