Where to trick or treat in Long Island

When I was a kid, my fondest memories of Halloween were those I spent trick or treating, where our neighborhood was chock full of kids filling the sidewalks of tree-lined streets that were blocked off from auto-traffic. We’d come home with garbage bags full of candy, open it up and have our parents inspect it, select a few, and put the rest away (my mom told us it was going into the freezer to stay “fresh, and that we could eat a piece of candy a day until next Halloween”- a statement I recently confirmed was a falsehood after years of wondering why we needed more candy in our Easter baskets).

As much as we as parents try to deny it, for kids, Halloween is more about the trick or (more importantly the) treating than about all the other brouhaha that comes along with it. This year, with a 5 and 3 year old, we are just as excited to trick or treat as we are to get dressed up. Luckily, out here on Long Island, we have a great neighborhood to trick or treat in, but in the event you don’t, we’ve compiled a list of great villages and spots across Long Island that are perfect to visit where you’ll find plenty of kids and lots of candy.

Village trick or treating is fun because your kids get to roam in and out and grab candy from otherwise BORING places like banks, drugstores, and shoe stores. Many of these villages offer Safe Zones, where portions of the village are cordoned off from traffic for select timeframes to allow kids to roam freely. Plus, many of them also start the treating early in the day, so you can take your little ones before the bigger kids arrive on the scene after they sleep in:

Bethpage: http://www.bethpagecommunity.com

Cold Spring Harbor Village: http://www.coldspringharborvillage.org

Garden City Village: http://www.gardencityny.net

Huntington Village: http://town.huntington.ny.us

Port Washington Village: http://www.portwashington.com

Northport Village: http://www.villageofnorthport.com

Manhasset: http://www.manhassetny.org

Long Beach Village: http://www.longbeachny.org

Stonybrook Village: http://www.stonybrookvillage.com

Westhampton Beach: http://www.westhamptonbeach.org

Happy Halloween!