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NYC Halloween: Gowanus scares up the most 311 complaints, study shows

Halloween may be all fun and games but people in Gowanus find it to be a huge nuisance, according to 311 data released by Streeteasy.com.

The Brooklyn neighborhood topped the city in complaints on Halloween, including for “noise,” “urinating in public,” and “disorderly youth,” said the report released Tuesday by the real estate listings site.

It had 31 complaints per 10,000 people during Halloween weekend in 2013 and 2014, which StreetEasy said was 10 times the average for the rest of the city. Alan Lightfeldt, a data scientist for StreetEasy, said Gowanus’s evolution into a great place to live and have a good time are contributing to the increased 311 calls.

“Its residential population is on the rise, there is a high concentration of music and party venues and there is the increasingly inconvenient (to neighbors) presence of light industrial uses,” he said in a statement. “It’s a perfect storm of sorts for complaints.”

The next three nabes on the list were Nolita, which had 23.9 complaints per 10,000 residents; midtown,(22.7 complaints); and Soho, (20.4 complaints). Flushing had the least amount of Halloween complaints with less than one 311 call per 10,000 residents, followed by Sheepshead Bay with 1.1 calls per 10,000 residents according to StreetEasy.

Other Halloween related 311 calls tallied by the real estate site include “dirty condition,” “unsanitary condition — garbage/recycling storage,” “sanitation condition — street condition/dump-out/drop-off.”

Craig Hammerman, the district manager of Brooklyn’s Community Board 6, said he was surprised by the number of complaints in Gowanus.

He said he has seen more families, restaurants and other community groups post about their parties or celebrations on social media or with fliers, giving residents a heads up on any expected rowdiness.

“There is a hunger to celebrate the holiday here, definitely, but there is also desire to celebrate it in a more socially acceptable way,” he said.

Hammerman noted that the increase of newer residents who arrived in Gowanus this year might not be accustomed to all of the parties or energized atmosphere so they would be more prone to calling the city.

“People take Halloween very seriously and the new residents may not know that,” he said.

Bob Gormley, the district manager for Manhattan’s Community Board 2, said he surprised neighborhoods in his district, Nolita and SoHo, ranked so high StreetEasy’s list since his office rarely gets complaints related to Halloween.

He speculated the calls could be from some spillover activity and trash from the Greenwich Village parade.

“Even if that was the case, it would be taken care of in the next morning. The sanitation department usually cleans it up the next day,” he said.

Hammerman said it’s impossible to avoid rowdy and loud crowds on Halloween, but if more residents and businesses informed the community about their plans, it would make life better for everyone.

“It helps explain why there are more and more people who want to plan their Halloween events in the right way,” he said of the StreetEasy study. “They don’t want to disturb their neighbors and face a fine.”