City of Amsterdam planning drive-thru trick or treat event

AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) — For Halloween 2020, Amsterdam is holding a drive-thru trick or treat at 1 p.m. at Veteran’s Park parking lot on Locust Avenue. The city has 1,500 goodie bags to hand out to costumed kids.

To be eligible to receive a bag of treats, kids must be under 13 and physically present in the car. Sponsored by MCT Federal Credit Union and Amsterdam Tourism, Marketing & Recreation Department, the event will take place the day of Halloween, Saturday, October 31.

Although Veteran’s Park will have spooky decorations, and fun prizes will be available along with candy, the event is a departure from the norm. Traditionally, Amsterdam’s annual Halloween event packs thousands of adults and kids on MVGO Bridge, but Mayor Mike Cinquanti said that wouldn’t be an option this year due to the pandemic.

“We also felt that a large number of parents would be hesitant having their children go door-to-door trick-or-treating and our residents would not be eager to hand out candy this year” explained the Mayor. “So we created this alternative event so that children could dress up in their costumes and get a bag full of treats safely, at one stop.”