By Rich Bockmann
The party’s over!
District Manager Yvonne Reddick told Community Board 12 last week that beginning next year, only active block associations will be given permits to host block parties.
“We have more block parties than any community board in the county and it’s interesting how so many block associations become active during the summer,” she said during the board’s monthly meeting Sept. 18 at the Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center in St. Albans.
Reddick said the Rev. Edward McKay, chairman of the board’s Blocks United Committee, can hardly get a dozen groups to attend his meetings, yet during the summer CB 12 has the most block parties of any community district in Queens.
For 2014, those organizations wishing to get a permit for a block party will have to make sure they are actively registered with the community board, which compiles a list of community groups each year.
The mayor’s office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management is responsible for granting permits for events such as block parties and street fairs, and the office defers to community boards on decisions regulating which kinds of groups and events get approved.
Reddick said organizations that hold a party without a permit have done so illegally, and police are cracking down.
“The Police Department is now monitoring all block parties,” she said, “so if it’s not legal, they shut you down.”
The board met last week for the first time since going on summer hiatus, and during the break Communications and Technology Committee Chairwoman Celeste James worked to get the board’s new website online.
The site, nyc.gov/qcb12, is a resource of information on the board, its meetings and the community at large.
Reddick’s new rule appeared to be popular with board members since she received a round of applause upon announcing it.
“So for 2014 in order to have a block party you must be an active organization,” she said. “So you heard it from me, the district manager.”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
