(CNN) Take a look at this photo. It shows a police officer, gun in hand, keeping a wary eye as a parade of costumed New Yorkers stream past him.

It was taken in Manhattan's West Village during the city's annual Halloween Parade Tuesday night, just a few blocks away and a mere few hours after a man mowed down pedestrians and bicyclists with a rented truck.

And yet, the parade went on . Sure, there was a greater police presence than usual. Officers were lined up with long guns along the parade route.

But as participants told CNN, they weren't going to give in to terror, to the city's deadliest terror attack since 9/11

"If you change your life then the bad guys win," one of them said.

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