By Barrett Seaman–
It has been voted the best parade in the county eight years in a row by Westchester Magazine. Last year, blessed by unseasonably warm weather, the Tarrytown Halloween parade drew upwards of 20,000 people—almost twice the population of the village. The parade was a triumphant display of elaborate floats, colorful ethnic costumes, strutting marching bands and whirling dancers.
The traffic was a mess.
Parade-goers arriving by car found the village’s official parking spaces blocked off, forcing many to search the surrounding residential streets for spots. Vehicles were parked on Neperan Road up and over the hill at Marymount and all the way down to the lakes. When the last marchers had turned down Main Street, it took hours to untangle the traffic of departing cars.
Determined to avoid a repeat, the village is encouraging non-resident parade-goers to come to Tarrytown on this year’s parade date of October 26 by train. As an enticement, the administration is promoting the idea of an inter-village entertainment package, noting that there will be a Scarecrow’s Ball throughout the day in Hastings, a celebration of Irvington’s Town Hall Theater’s re-opening with refreshments and music from 2:00pm to 4:00pm and a “Costume Karaoke” at the Sing Sing Brewery in Ossining starting at 8:00pm.
Those who ignore the advice to come by rail should take note of the road closures that will be in effect on parade day this year. They include Broadway from Main Street all the way to College Avenue in Sleepy Hollow from 4:30pm until 7:00pm, Main Street from Broadway down to Baylis Court from 3:00pm until 11:00pm and from Baylis Court to Depot Plaza from 2:00pm until 11:00pm.
For those discouraged by the steep climb from the Metro North station to the parade route, a shuttle will be running from Depot Plaza to Baylis court.
To check out the Hudson Line Train Schedule go to: https://new.mta.info/document/150821.
More information about area events and transportation, guidance will be posted on the Tarrytown Halloween Parade website: Tarrytownhalloweenparade.com.
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