Halloween 2026 in NYC: Bay Ridge Pumpkin Roll, Broadway Costumes and Fordham Ghost Lore

Start in Brooklyn on October 24

The Oct 24 Bay Ridge Pumpkin Roll runs along Third Avenue, according to Brooklyn Paper. It is a pub crawl with a Halloween costume contest added this year, and it raises funds for a neighborhood Trunk or Treat. If you are already in Brooklyn, this is the most direct Halloween plan of the day. Stay along Third Avenue, expect bar queues to build after dark, and keep a card ready for drinks. The source does not list a ticket price, so treat any cover charge as unknown and ask before you enter.

Broadway costumes from your suitcase

If your costume is not sorted, Playbill has a low-effort route. Build a look around Broadway characters, including a vampire, Orpheus or Mary Todd Lincoln. For a traveler, that means no bulky prop and no dedicated costume shop stop. Pack a dark jacket, white shirt or simple period-ish layers and you can move between Manhattan theaters and bars without carrying a bag. The trade-off is recognizability. A closet costume reads as a costume only if the silhouette is clear, so pick one detail, such as a high collar or a top hat, and commit to it.

Fordham ghost stories in the Bronx

Fordham University's Rose Hill campus has a separate Halloween draw. Secret NYC reports that The Exorcist was filmed there in 1973, and students and staff have reported ghostly sightings and unexplained noises. The campus is in the Bronx, not midtown. Do not treat it as a haunted house. It is a working university, so check official visitor access before making the trip, and do not enter buildings that are closed.