Street fairs, which often generate complaints from locals, will be cut by about 25 percent, New York City officials said, according to an article in yesterday's edition of The New York Daily News by Adam Lisberg and Jonathan Lemire.
"Communities frequently complain about the traffic congestion, noise and litter generated by street fairs," said Cristin Burtis, head of the mayor's Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management, the article said.
"In response to those complaints," Burtis said, "we are taking steps to make the hours of street fairs shorter and reduce the number of times a street is closed by combining street fairs," the article continued."
Additionally, it said, the city will crack down on duplicate fairs. For instance, if a neighborhood normally has two events on successive weekends, they will be merged into one fair.
The decision - much like Mayor Bloomberg's plan to cut the size of parades - will also save the city money, the article said, because it will be shelling out less on police to provide security for the events.
The article said that "the cuts were greeted with applause by critics of street fairs, who often slam the events' cookie-cutter rows of T-shirts, socks and Italian sausages. "They cause considerable disruption for many months of the year, for little benefit to the neighborhoods they're in," said Councilman Daniel Garodnick, who represents Manhattan's East Side.
"For the most part, these are generic, soulless, corporate productions and they should be trimmed," said Garodnick, who is proposing legislation to mandate the inclusion of more vendors from the community, the article noted.
One of the city's street fair kings defended the events, but gave tentative approval to the mayor's plan.
Mort Berkowitz of Mort & Rat Productions, which is running 14 street fairs this year, said that "we understand that traffic congestion can be a problem, and I have no issue with reducing the parade at the front end," the article said, but he added "there should not be any more reduction in the number of fairs," the article said added, that Mr. Berkowitz, who also is in charge of the Feast of San Gennaro street fair, said that "these are events people enjoy."
"Communities frequently complain about the traffic congestion, noise and litter generated by street fairs," said Cristin Burtis, head of the mayor's Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management, the article said.
"In response to those complaints," Burtis said, "we are taking steps to make the hours of street fairs shorter and reduce the number of times a street is closed by combining street fairs," the article continued."
Additionally, it said, the city will crack down on duplicate fairs. For instance, if a neighborhood normally has two events on successive weekends, they will be merged into one fair.
The decision - much like Mayor Bloomberg's plan to cut the size of parades - will also save the city money, the article said, because it will be shelling out less on police to provide security for the events.
The article said that "the cuts were greeted with applause by critics of street fairs, who often slam the events' cookie-cutter rows of T-shirts, socks and Italian sausages. "They cause considerable disruption for many months of the year, for little benefit to the neighborhoods they're in," said Councilman Daniel Garodnick, who represents Manhattan's East Side.
"For the most part, these are generic, soulless, corporate productions and they should be trimmed," said Garodnick, who is proposing legislation to mandate the inclusion of more vendors from the community, the article noted.
One of the city's street fair kings defended the events, but gave tentative approval to the mayor's plan.
Mort Berkowitz of Mort & Rat Productions, which is running 14 street fairs this year, said that "we understand that traffic congestion can be a problem, and I have no issue with reducing the parade at the front end," the article said, but he added "there should not be any more reduction in the number of fairs," the article said added, that Mr. Berkowitz, who also is in charge of the Feast of San Gennaro street fair, said that "these are events people enjoy."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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