Bloomberg.com – By Steven Bodzin
Bloomberg – Hundreds of thousands of fun-seekers usually swarm into the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco each Oct. 31 for one of the biggest, wildest Halloween celebrations in the U.S.
They may be disappointed this year. Partyers won’t find the three stages of years past, with disco music pounding until the wee hours. Instead, they’ll get one stage with mellower music, a city-mandated closing time of about 11 p.m. and what Mayor Gavin Newsom calls an unprecedented number of police.
It’s all part of an effort by Castro homeowners and the city to rein in an uninhibited street party that has thrived for 30 years in a neighborhood that gained fame in the 1970s as a national center of gay rights.
“The young guys that were in the neighborhood have now aged,” said Audrey Joseph, an event planner who volunteers to organize the logistics. “Their values have changed. When you own property, you want to protect it.”