By Gus Saltonstall
Neighbors David Baskin and Gary Mindlin first started putting up Halloween decorations in their Upper West Side building in 1999.
Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City, and the top song on the charts was Believe by Cher.
“We started doing the decorations just outside our apartments,” Mindlin told West Side Rag in a phone call. “Each year, it became progressively more, until David and I, who live next door to each other, started expanding to the entire long side of the hallway. We started coming up with themes each year that were different.”
The two men each had young children at the time, but as the years went on, and their kids grew up, the duo never stopped putting up Halloween decorations for their building within Lincoln Towers at 150 West 66th Street.
“Since we started doing it with the hallway, the kids in the building first, the four, five, six year olds knew us because of the decorations,” Mindlin said. “Then it started being the adults as well, asking us when the decorations would go up. So, each year, more and more people started remembering that we did it, and a month or two before the holiday we’d begin to get, ‘What are you doing this year?’ And, we’d always say it’s a secret until the end. It really created a buzz in the building.”
Baskin added, “I can’t tell you how many people say thank you for doing this, but honestly, I think we get as much pleasure in putting it together as the people who look at the display.”
Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and the pair, along with fellow neighbor Paul Baker, took their spooky decorations outside of the building.
For this year’s rendition, the trio has created a work of art.
A full recreation of OG Anunoby’s game-winning shot for the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs in this year’s NBA Finals. The display comes complete with jerseys, tombstones for the Spurs players, the faces of the Knicks superfans, and even a referee.
The idea to build this year’s decoration around the Knicks came from Baskin’s family member.
“Immediately, I called Gary and said, ‘Let’s do the OG shot,’ he agreed,” Baskin said. “From that little theme, everything evolved. We really came up with it a couple of weeks ago. Once we put down the Brunson and OG shot with the ball in the basket, and then the rest of the scene evolved. Gary came up with the idea of the tombstones for the Spurs, and then the watch party. We added chairs for viewers, along with the celebrity corner. It really evolved on its own. It was incredible.”
To help put together the spooky displays each year, building management lends ladders and tools.
Baskin is a doctor. Mindlin works in real estate. Baker is a dentist.
“We work well because we compartmentalize. One person will work on one side. One person will work on another,” Baskin said. “It’s a lot of independent work together. After all these years, we’ve figured out how to maximize our time.
Many of the answers from the longtime neighbors returned to the sense of community that the decorations create within the Upper West Side building.
“What we liked this year specifically is the way we were able to unify not only our building, but everyone around the community because of this Knicks championship run,” Baskin said. “It was amazing how the city was so unified and happy with it. And as Gary said, if you can capture that spirit again and remind people of it, that’s really positive.”
“It is about community,” Mindlin put plainly. “It creates building pride. Building excitement from all ages. That’s why we do it at the end of the day.”
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