Why There's No One on the Streets of Brooklyn Today

Crowds of wizards and witches roamed the streets of Brooklyn last night in search of The Book.

The line at BookCourt (above) snaked along Court Street and half way down Pacific, but the mood was jolly. Cheers rang out when the first young reader ran out of the store at one minute after midnight, clutching the seventh volume of Harry Potter -- the only book on sale last night.

There was quite the circus at Barnes and Noble on Court Street, where hundreds of costumed kids and quite a few adults milled around, entering contests and having their face painted. There was a rush for wristbands at about 11 p.m., but again -- jolly, jolly crowd.

Photos by MK Metz