The New York Times - USA (2020-10-25)

On an unassuming block of Broadway in

Lower Manhattan earlier this month,

Sammy Mena finally went back to work.

Some people on the sidewalk strolled past

without a second glance, some with a

shriek. A little boy clutched his mother’s

hand tightly as they walked by, his eyes wid-

ening above his oversized surgical mask.

New Yorkers aren’t used to interacting

much with strangers lately, particularly not

a stranger in character as a gore-streaked,

homicidal clown.

The haunted house known as Blood Man-

or reopened to the public for a Halloween

season unlike any in its 17-year history. Mr.

Mena, who has worked there since 2007, has

earned the plum gig of doing his scaring

outside, targeting unsuspecting pedestri-

ans and patrons waiting in line.

He was clearly enjoying the discomfiting

effect his staring and stalking had on

passers-by, especially under the present

circumstances. “Everybody’s been locked

up,” he said. “It’s nice to have someplace to

go, get out of the house and make somebody

cry. Because — woo! — I’ve made people

cry.”

The pandemic is a crisis for the haunted-

attractions industry, which is fighting to

survive this Halloween. After all, the tradi-

tional conception of a haunted house is a

nightmare for perhaps no one more so than

an epidemiologist: potential super-spread-

ers crowded together in questionably sani-

tized indoor sets, screaming out untold

droplets within inches of strangers’ faces.

The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-

vention has broadly categorized indoor

haunted houses as a “higher risk” holiday

activity, and in some places, like Los Ange-

les and all of Illinois, they are prohibited.

But in New York, while Broadway and mov-

ie theaters remain shuttered, haunted

houses are considered “low-risk indoor arts

and entertainment” (like museums or

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

In 2020, Are Killer Clowns So Scary?

PHOTOGRAPHS BY AMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMES

If they are, the Blood Manor haunted house says its precautions will keep virus-conscious visitors safe while they scream.

By MOLLY FITZPATRICK

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

MB

NEW YORK CITY

2 SUNDAY ROUTINE

Neighborly repairs, jogging

and Netflix for a fix-it guru.

3 BIG CITY

Ginia Bellafante on some

roadblocks for the privileged.

5 THE PANDEMIC OFFICE

New Yorkers get creative in

finding private work spaces.

4 IN THE DIARY

‘Wednesdays are the days

he drives into Manhattan.’

He came to New York from Tokyo to make it

as a jazz musician, and he did, landing gigs

in several touring bands and leading a trio

of his own. He was elegant but never flashy

on the piano, always well prepared and on

time.

It was not an easy path. On Sept. 27,

around 7:20 in the evening, that path got a

lot harder.

Coming off the subway at West 135th

Street after a video shoot, Tadataka Unno,

40, a new father, encountered a group of

about eight young people who blocked his

way to the turnstiles. When he tried to pass

through, one of them shoved him from be-

hind. Another said he had pushed her, and a

young man near her said, “My girl is preg-

nant.”

That’s when the beating started — first in

the subway station and then up on the

street, where he yelled for people to help

him, to no avail.

“I thought that this was how I was going

to die,” he recalled two weeks later, describ-

ing the attack in a written note because it

was still painful to talk about it. He did not

know how many in the group had hit him.

They fractured his right collarbone, injured

his arm and bruised him all over. After

surgery for the broken bones, he was not

sure whether he will ever be able to play the

piano again. He has been unable to use his

SAYAKA UNNO CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Tadataka Unno was living the

life of a successful jazzman in

Harlem until he was beaten late

last month. He isn’t sure if he

will ever be able to play again.

By JOHN LELAND

Broken Life, Shattered Dream

The police say an attack on a

Japanese pianist wasn’t a hate

crime. Social media disagrees.

Above and at right,

the Halloween ghouls of

Blood Manor, scaring visitors

both inside and waiting in

line on the street, are

mostly veteran actors, but

this year’s show employs

more animatronics.

.