Despite Complaints, R’wood Fest Gets Nod
For the third year in a row, the four-day September street festival on Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood proved to be a lightning rod of controversy during Community Board 5′s annual vote on street fair permit applications, which took place at their meeting last Wednesday night, Feb. 13, at Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village.
Over the objections of several Ridgewood board members who decried the festival as being an inconvenience for neighborhood residents, the board recommended approval of the application for the street festival sponsored by the Federazione Italo- Americana di Brooklyn and Queens.
This year’s event is scheduled to take place on four consecutive days-Thursday, Sept. 5, through Sunday, Sept. 9-along five blocks of Fresh Pond Road between Menahan and Woodbine streets. To accommodate the event, the street will be closed on Sept. 5 from 5:30 p.m. to midnight, on Sept. 6 and 7 from 5 p.m. to midnight and on Sept. 8 from 5 to 10 p.m.
Before the vote on the festival was taken, two Board 5 members from Ridgewood-Paul Kerzner and Peter Comber-voiced their opposition to the application. They previously spoke out against plans for the festival the previous two years, charging that caused excessive traffic on other roadways in Ridgewood and cut off residents living on the eastern side of Fresh Pond Road.
“This is the only organization that gets four times the number of days as the other festivals,” Comber said at last Wednesday’s meeting. He added that the festival causes “four times the amount of aggravation” due to the closure of Fresh Pond Road, which is one of the few major northto south thoroughfares in the area.
“I can understand having the festival on a weekend,” Comber added. “But having it four days? I’m against it.”
“People can’t even get into their blocks for four days,” added Kerzner, who made a personal appeal to board members in other neighborhoods to oppose the plan. “It’s actually abusive to the residents.”
No one spoke on behalf of the festival at last Wednesday’s session. In previous years, event organizers have said changes have been made over the years to minimize congestion and inconvenience to local residents.
In the end, Board 5 voted in favor of the festival application, with 22 supporting it and 14 voting against the plan.
There was less drama in the votes taken by Board 5 regarding other applications for street fairs scheduled around Ridgewood, Maspeth and Middle Village later this year. None of the six other applications received dissenting votes, though some members abstained from voting due to their affiliations with organizers.
The other street fair applications approved by Board 5 were the following:
– the Ridgewood Local Development Corporation for a festival on Sunday, Apr. 14, from noon to 6 p.m. along Myrtle Avenue between Wyckoff Avenue and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.);
– the Kiwanis Club of Glendale for a festival on Sunday, May 5, from noon to 6 p.m. along Metropolitan Avenue between 73rd Place and 79th Street in Middle Village (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.);
– the Maspeth Chamber of Commerce, the Maspeth Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club of Maspeth for a festival on Sunday, June 9, from noon to 6 p.m. along Grand Avenue between 65th and 72nd streets in Maspeth (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.);
– the Kiwanis Club of Glendale for a festival on Sunday, Aug. 18, from noon to 6 p.m. along Myrtle Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and Forest Avenue in Ridgewood (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.);
– the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District for a festival on Sunday, Sept. 15, from noon to 6 p.m. along Myrtle Avenue between Wyckoff Avenue and Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood (the street will be closed from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.); and
– the Maspeth Lions Club, the Boy Scouts of America and the Queens Ledger for a street fair on Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. along Grand Avenue between 69th and 72nd streets in Maspeth (the street will be closed from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.).
The board’s recommendations followed that of its Executive Committee, which conducted a preliminary review of the street fair applications.
The city’s Department of Consumer Affairs makes the final determination in issuing street fair permits.
