Photos from the NYC Halloween Parade

One of New York's "essentials" is the annual Village Halloween Parade; thousands of people in costumes walk across 6th Avenue and thousands more line-up the sidewalks to watch. Bands play music everywhere, with dancers, artists, and an explosion of color and creativity. The most recurrent costume this year was the Joker from Dark Knight, and there was a number of Sarah Palins. Here some photos I took there last week - a bit blurry, but I hope they still reflect the atmosphere.

Random Thoughts from the Morning After

The New York Times sold out on every newsstand in the neighborhood this morning. Luckily I was up and out on the street early, and I'm holding on to my copy :)

I’m so happy I got to witness Obama’s victory in Harlem last night. I was in Time Square amidst thousands of people watching the results coming from different states, and then when Obama was declared the winner, and as more crowds took to the streets - my friends and I hopped on a train and headed to Adam Clayton Powell boulevard in Harlem and got there in time to watch Obama’s speech.

In Time Square, a white woman rushed to a black man who was selling Obama buttons and other Obamabilia, and shook his hands with excitement saying: “I’m 64 years old and today I voted for the first time in my life.”

On the subway from Time Square to Harlem, a hard-core Obama supporter with Obama buttons all over her jacket was sharing her happiness with all those sitting around her. A young black woman exclaimed “I’m black and I’m proud.” A drunk young white woman said: “I’m black and I’m proud, and I’m from Chicago... beat that!”

So the button-covered woman responded “No darling - you’re white. But you’re alright.”

One young man started talking about whether or not Obama was “illuminati” and went on about free masons for a while. Another woman went on about how this is a sign of the times... how this is a prophecy fulfilled.

I was there with a Colombian friend and an Indian friend, and the three of us were utterly amused when that drunk white girl started saying “do you know that... in other countries... they have this on the front pages of their newspapers, like, they’re discussing Obama and McCain... like, man, this is a big deal for them... this is like way bigger than we think!”

In Harlem, people were gathered on the streets in front of a big screen listening to every word Obama was saying in his speech. When he finished they all erupted in a euphoria of dancing and singing “Obama! Yes we can!” over and over and over.

Christiane Amanpour described it this morning saying that the sight of the crowds flooding the streets reminded her of what she witnessed in countries in their first-time ever democratic elections.

Here at the Journalism School at Columbia we’ve been covering what the elections were like from New York City, and you can see it all here.

This is a very incoherent post, but I just felt like getting it out there.

More later.