By Alexander Dworkowitz
For more than a decade, the display of the New York Mets Fireworks Night has lit the summer sky over western Flushing.
While many residents climbed to their rooftops to see the show, the Flushing community did nothing to officially mark the event, said Fred Fu, president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association.
This year, however, the Flushing business community and the Mets have teamed up to draw attention to the event.
“Every year it’s very good fireworks, but people in Flushing don’t know about it,” Fu told a news conference Monday. “I want this community to know about the fireworks.”
The July 12 festival will take place in the parking lot across the street from the Flushing Mall at 39th Avenue and Prince Street.
A street fair will begin at 3 p.m. Two 6-by-8-foot flat television screens, provided by the Flushing-based electronics company SVS Productions, will begin broadcasting the game between the Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies at 7 p.m.
Residents are encouraged to bring folding chairs to watch the game. The fireworks, launched from centerfield at Shea, are expected to begin about 20 minutes after the end of the game.
Fu hopes the festival will help bring tourists to downtown Flushing. He envisions residents from throughout the borough coming to the fair, eating at Flushing’s restaurants and staying to watch the game and fireworks for free. Fu also said he wanted fans with tickets to the game to stop by the fair on their way to Shea.
“Ninety percent of the people come to the game and never come to Flushing,” Fu said. “Flushing needs the tourists.”
Brian Leitner, a theme night representative for the Mets, said the baseball team hoped the festival would help boost the attendance of Asian fans.
“The Mets are very excited about coming together with the Flushing community,” Leitner said.
The FCBA is in charge of the publicity of the festival. Leitner said the Mets would pass out fliers to fans attending the July 11 game promoting the following day’s events and would work on more actively advertising the festival to its fans in upcoming years.
As part of the Mets’ bid to drum up interest from the Asian community, the organization is holding its fifth annual Asian Night July 22. Central to the night is a lion dance and kung-fu demonstration conducted by members of the Shaolin Temple, a martial arts organization whose overseas headquarters are located in Flushing.
A thousand tickets have been designated for the borough’s Asians. As of press time, the cost of 600 of those tickets had been paid for by three sponsors.
Leslie Krause, a Flushing native, attorney and sponsor, said Flushing had a lot to offer to tourists.
“The Chinese food is second to none,” he said. “It’s vibrant, exciting, it’s crowded. It’s really a very overlooked place in New York City.”
Fu said the Mets had many fans to gain in targeting Flushing. “Baseball is very popular in the Asian community,” he said.
For more information on the fireworks festival, call 358-9737.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 141.
