It didn’t take long to realize it wasn’t the standard Halloween in Weehawken Wednesday. The streets of the township were not packed with frolicking, costumed youngsters armed with buckets to be filled with candy. The trick-or-treat revelers were down to a select few.
There was one reason for the small turnout – the aura of fear created by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the recent threats of future attacks.
Amy Hassouna was taking her 6-year-old son, Adam, through her neighborhood and was shocked to find that he was the lone kid in costume.
"It’s like a ghost town," Hassouna said. "There’s nobody out in the street. I know that a lot of people heard too many stories about what may happen. I had friends who said that they were not going to give away any candy. It’s really scary. But Adam was asking me, ‘Please, take me.’ It’s a tradition for him. I had to take him."
Adam was dressed as Space Ghost, hiding behind the mask at first, then showing off his bright smile. Nothing was going to diminish his fun day.
"It’s for the kids," Hassouna said. "They shouldn’t be afraid. Hopefully, next year, things will change and everything will be fine."
Lillian Behrens was minding her 3-year-old grandson, Scott Aquino, who was dressed as a fireman. Scott’s costume was only fitting considering that Behrens’ father, George Stalling, was once the fire chief in Weehawken.
Scott was decked out in his fire gear, which was one of the most popular costumes this year in honor of the heroes who either lost their lives or tried to save other’s lives in the September tragedy.
Although Behrens had concerns about going door to door, she was not about to change her life.
"If you let them run your lives, then they win and you’re a prisoner," Behrens said. "They’re not going to scare me. If you go about your life carefully, then you can be just fine."
Behrens said that she was only going to take Scott to the houses of the people she personally knew.
The fear didn’t seem to affect Scott, because he had a smile from ear to ear.
Seven-year-old friends Nicole Rodriguez, dressed as Sleeping Beauty, and Geneva Eng, dolled up as an Arabian Princess, were escorted by Geneva’s mother, Eileen.
"It has definitely changed things," Eileen said of the threats. "We’re just going to go around our immediate neighborhood. I will check out every item that they get, even more so than usual. It’s really sad that it’s come to this. We’re trying to live our lives the way we normally would, but it’s almost impossible."
Some local businesses pasted signs on their doors telling prospective trick-or-treaters that they had no candy to distribute.
Other residents sat and waited with buckets of goodies to hand out, but they had no one to give them to.
One elderly woman sat on her Cooper Place front porch with a big bowl of individually wrapped candies at her side.
"I haven’t had a single kid yet," said the woman, who asked not to be named. "I’ve been out here for over an hour and I haven’t had one kid. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the candy I’ve bought. It’s really a waste."
A quick tour of the town told this sad tale. From 4 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., as dusk was beginning to set in, only 11 children in costume were spotted going door-to-door.