A heavy police
presence in San Francisco's Castro district seemed enough
to spook revelers away from what was once home to the Bay
Area's largest Halloween street party.
City officials
canceled the event after nine people were shot at last
year's costume bash.
On Wednesday
night bars and restaurants closed early, public
transportation halted nighttime service to the area, and
sidewalk barricades were set up to discourage
pedestrians from spilling into the road. The landmark
Castro Theatre stood with its lights shut off, guarded
by barricades and nine police officers.
However, more
than 250 uniformed officers patrolling the area weren't
enough to keep some people from checking out their favorite
Halloween haunt. A light crowd of costumed revelers
wandered through the neighborhood Wednesday night, and
six people were arrested for public drunkenness, said
police sergeant Steve Mannina.
The party, which
began in the 1960s as a spontaneous and unsanctioned
event in the heart of the city's gay and lesbian enclave,
was taken over by the city after 2002, when five
people were stabbed and police found a man wielding a
chain saw among the crowd of nearly 500,000.
Longtime resident
Bob Mark said he was glad to have a quieter Halloween
night at home.
''This went from
being a really pleasant neighborhood event to a crazed
tourist extravaganza,'' Mark, 60, said Wednesday.
Jeanne Hawkins,
43, came dressed as a witch with her costumed friends
despite warnings to stay away.
''It's so sad,''
said Hawkins, who had gone to the street party for the
last few years. ''This is world-famous, and they're slowly
chipping away at all our traditions that make San
Francisco what it is.'' (Jason Dearen, AP)
