In pictures: New Yorkers defiantly stage Halloween parade hours after terror attack

New Yorkers bravely took to the streets to celebrate Halloween just hours after eight people were killed in a terrorist attack on their streets.

In an act of defiance under the shadow of real fear, the Greenwich Village parade started about a mile away from where the truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along the bike path near the World Trade Centre memorial.

Security was heavy as New Yorkers dressed up in Halloween costumes to take part in the raucous spectacle that rolled along with its floats and bands, with thousands of spectators turning out.

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Police said they added extra officers, heavy weapons teams and sand trucks as protective blockers along the parade route.

The parade, which is open to anyone wearing a costume, began in 1973 with a puppeteer marching with his family and grew into a televised extravaganza.

Ghosts, goblins, zombies, superheroes, men on stilts, human bumblebees and a float of topless people were among those making their way up Sixth Avenue as spectators bobbed to drumming and Caribbean music.