Hey New York! Do you really know who old John down the street has living in his basement? Worried about who's lurking behind that mask at the door when you're trick or treating with your kids? What about your friend's neighbors? They'll surely be at this year's costume party. Do you know their pasts? Wasn't there a story in the paper last month about Madge's boy taking off with the Johnson girl for a little while? What ever happened with that?

Never fear! New York Public Safety is here! (Insert trumpet fanfare here.)

There are close to 33,000 sex offenders registered in the state of New York. When you subtract the number of those registered who are incarcerated, out of state or unknown (“unknown”?!) that number drops down to a daunting 22,000, give or take a few people. So to help with that whole stalking-people-who've-served-their-time thing, there is now a Facebook app created by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) so you can check up on where sex offenders live.

Rensselaer County Sheriff Jack Mahar said, “The ability to search for sex offenders via Facebook gives both law enforcement and parents another resource to protect children from potential predators.”

That should be handy this Halloween. Parents can save themselves some stress and just skip the houses of those convicted of sex crimes. Check out New York's Public Safety Facebook page for the app.