Scenes of Joy and Mayhem from the 23rd Annual Bike Kill

Brooklyn's best Halloween party this year was held on a dead-end street in Red Hook

Since 2003, Brooklyn’s indefatigable Black Label Bike Club has thrown the best Halloween bash of the season, a raucous and hilarious—and semi-dangerous—block party known simply as Bike Kill. Held every year on the last Saturday of October (except for random years when it’s not), Bike Kill has become a cherished tradition among a certain set of two-wheeled thrill-seekers. That this year’s party fell on actual Halloween was just a nice bonus, and people really went all out.

Scenes of Joy and Mayhem from the 23rd Annual Bike Kill

Photo by Scott Lynch

There are no real rules at Bike Kill besides “don’t be an asshole,” and the hours-long event involves dozens of insane mutant bikes that anyone can ride, tons of day drinking, occasional explosives, a nighttime jousting tournament, excellent music from a series of DJs, free food, and hundreds of revelers in crazy DIY costumes.

Photo by Scott Lynch

I’ve been to, I think, thirteen Bike Kills now, at many different locations (in Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, Long Island City, Ridgewood, and Red Hook), and this year’s party was almost certainly the largest yet, in terms of both the physical space and the number of people who all somehow found out about the new “secret” location.

Conducting official interviews with Bike Kill participants and Black Label Bike Club organizers always feels deeply antithetical to the rebel, off-the-grid spirit of the thing, so just check out some more scenes from the day below.