Hyde Park group organizing "CollaBOOration" to keep Halloween safe for teens

Halloween night in Hyde Park draws big crowds, but in years past those gatherings have sometimes led to teen takeovers and property damage. Now, one longtime resident is working to make the holiday a fun, positive experience for everyone, but he said more volunteers are needed to make it happen.

For more than three decades, Bennie Currie has called Hyde Park home.

Since 2019, he has led "CollaBOOration," a community-driven effort aimed at addressing teen takeovers on Halloween.

"We're just trying to make sure people have literally a happy Halloween," he said.

In 2018, more than a dozen cars were damaged, and two University of Chicago students were beaten and robbed on Halloween during a teen takeover. The next year, Currie launched an effort to get the neighborhood involved in preventing a repeat of that kind of Halloween chaos, which had become common over the previous few years.

"We're just trying to give them something to do, because they're coming to Hyde Park because they don't necessarily have that safe space in the community where they came from," Currie said.

From music to entertainers and even free food, the CollaBOOration event provides activities for teens who come to Hyde Park on Halloween night while adult volunteers have a visible presence.

Kenwood Academy High School students have spent recent Halloweens in Hyde Park, and said they welcome the effort if it keeps everyone safe

"I think that's a good thing, because they're trying to take part in their community," Jacob Young said.

"I think that's perfect. That makes a lot of sense," George Hughes said. "It's a lot of teens out here, so the presence of adults, I think it will calm a lot of stuff down," George Hughes said.

Currie believes the effort has worked.

"We got to a point where we got to no arrests. We've seen those numbers spike up, and I think all that means is that we need more people out," he said.

The idea is to fill 53rd Street, the neighborhood's main business stretch, with hundreds of adults on Halloween night. Currie said 125 people have registered to help and more volunteers are needed. He's hoping to get 300 or more.

"We need as many adults as possible," he said.