Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, and in Prospect Heights the day is already laid out by the posted schedules. The Prospect Park Boathouse and the Brooklyn Museum both end their Halloween family programs at 4 p.m. At that same hour, three blocks around Underhill Avenue close to cars for Trick-or-Streets.
So the daytime events sit along the park and Eastern Parkway, and the evening happens on the residential streets. With a little planning, a family can do both without picking one. Here's how the day unfolds, in order.
Morning on the park edge, with the Greenmarket already open
The earliest Halloween stop isn't a Halloween event at all. The Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket runs every Saturday, year-round, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Prospect Park West and Flatbush Avenue, and GrowNYC hasn't posted any change for the holiday. It closes at 4, too. If you want to pick up pumpkins or cider for the stoop, get there early. Don't count on it after the costumes come out.
At 10 a.m., Prospect Park Alliance opens Creepy Crawly Halloween at the Prospect Park Boathouse. It's free and runs until 4 p.m. The Alliance's listing describes:
- a nature-detective sketchbook and observation guide
- owl pellets to pick apart and see what the birds have been eating
- an autumn walk
- treats from the Alliance's nature chef
The Alliance asks for an RSVP through its event page. It's the most hands-on event of the day. Since it runs all day, families can come in the morning and still make it back toward Eastern Parkway for the midday programs.
The Haunted Carousel gives you a second reason to be in the park. It opens Thursday, October 29, the day this post goes up, and runs daily through Sunday, November 1, from noon to 5 p.m. Rides cost $3 each, or $13 for a book of five, and they're free with a Prospect Park Alliance Family Supporter membership or higher. The carousel runs four days, so it doesn't have to compete with Saturday at all. A Thursday or Friday afternoon visit leaves Halloween itself for everything else.
Midday on Eastern Parkway and Grand Army Plaza
The Brooklyn Museum at 200 Eastern Parkway holds Halloween Family Day: Art, Treats, and Beats from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 31. It takes over the whole museum and is free with museum admission.
The theme comes from the shows on view. The day draws on Art of Manga and Mika Ninagawa: Feel the Flow(ers), and the museum's announcement describes:
- a Stamp 'n' Treat route through the galleries
- manga-inspired art-making
- a local artist drawing your costume as a chibi-style portrait
- A Parent(ly) Kidding with Vashtie Kola, a party and parade for showing off Halloween looks
The museum says costumes and cosplay are encouraged. Art of Manga runs through January 31, 2027. If the Saturday crowd is too much, the galleries behind the theme will still be up well into winter.
Up the parkway at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library at 10 Grand Army Plaza has a Día de Muertos performance in the Dweck Center from 1 to 2 p.m. that Saturday. You don't need to RSVP, and seats are first-come, first-served. It's the only event of the day with a fixed one-hour window, so it's the easiest one to plan around. Get there before 1 p.m. if you want a seat.
Put together, the daylight hours look like this. The Boathouse runs 10 to 4, the museum 11:30 to 4, and the library holds one hour in the middle. All of it sits along the park and the parkway.
4 p.m.: the blocks take over
As the institutions wrap up, NYC DOT's Trick-or-Streets begins. Prospect Heights Open Streets, Inc. is this year's local partner, and the city's Trick-or-Streets listing shows three segments closed from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 31:
| Street | Closed section | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Underhill Avenue | St. Johns Place to Prospect Place | 4–8 p.m. |
| Park Place | Underhill Avenue to Vanderbilt Avenue | 4–8 p.m. |
| Sterling Place | Washington Avenue to Underhill Avenue | 4–8 p.m. |
The organizers at Prospect Heights Open Streets say the streets will be closed to traffic for trick-or-treating, live music, and arts and crafts. Gold Star Beer Counter and Radio Bakery are sponsoring the program. Radio Bakery's Prospect Heights shop is at 186 Underhill Avenue.
On the map, the three segments stay off the busy avenues. Underhill runs north and south, while Park Place and Sterling Place branch off it toward Vanderbilt and Washington. Trick-or-treating mostly happens on residential blocks, which is where these closures are. DOT says Trick-or-Streets celebrations are free. The city's 2026 announcement counts 160 car-free Open Streets and plazas citywide this Halloween and calls it the largest Trick-or-Streets yet. DOT's listing doesn't post any rules beyond the streets being car-free, so check the organizer's channels if you're wondering about something specific.
Why the evening shifts off Vanderbilt this year
Vanderbilt Open Streets, which closes Vanderbilt between Atlantic Avenue and Park Place, finished its seventh season on Saturday, October 10, with live music from 1 to 7 p.m. featuring Axiom Addicts, Blondie and the Hotbones Shakedown, and Lost Goose. Alta Calidad at 552 Vanderbilt Avenue held a fall festival that same afternoon. The organizers called that weekend the last Open Streets day of the season, "at least until Trick or Streets haunts the neighborhood."
That's why Halloween ends up a block east. The same group that ran Saturdays on Vanderbilt all season now closes Underhill, Park Place and Sterling for one evening. In a post thanking the neighborhood for the season, the organizers said they plan to keep growing the program in 2027. For now, October 31 is their final street event of 2026.
A sample route for the day
Using only the posted times, a full Saturday could look like this:
- Morning: The Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza, open from 8 a.m., then Creepy Crawly Halloween at the Boathouse, which runs from 10 a.m.
- Late morning to early afternoon: Halloween Family Day at the Brooklyn Museum, which opens at 11:30 a.m.
- 1 to 2 p.m.: The Día de Muertos performance at the Central Library's Dweck Center, first-come, first-served.
- Back to the museum or the park until the daytime programs end at 4 p.m.
- 4 to 8 p.m.: Trick-or-Streets on Underhill Avenue, Park Place and Sterling Place.
Families with younger kids may want to skip a stop. The museum and the Boathouse overlap for most of the day, so the real choice is park or galleries, with the library hour in between.
What comes after the costumes
The next big date on the Eastern Parkway calendar is Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Lightscape. It's a ticketed light trail running November 20, 2026, through January 3, 2027, with 21+ nights on Thursday, December 10, and Thursday, December 17. The Garden's entrances are at 150 Eastern Parkway, 455 Flatbush Avenue and 990 Washington Avenue. The Washington Avenue entrance is the one on the Prospect Heights side.
If Saturday on Underhill has you thinking about which blocks you'd want to live on someday, or about how to get your own apartment ready before a spring sale, I'm glad to talk it through whenever the timing suits you, with no pressure. Let's Connect with Teddy Cafaro.
