As the fate of the 22nd annual Fresh Pond Road street festival in Ridgewood remains in limbo, a representative of the event’s sponsor refuted allegations of violence and other problems related to past fairs.
Lucy Dolce of the Federazione Italo-Americana di Brooklyn and Queens sought to clear the air regarding the festival and a shooting that occurred near it in 2008. The incident, among other issues, was cited by the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association (RPOCA) and other festival opponents in their appeals to the city that the organizers be denied a permit.
“The 2008 shooting had no connection to the festival,” Lucy Dolce said. “It happened on a side street and had nothing to do with the festival. There is no crime, no crime at all. If they had this smoking gun, why has no one mentioned this when trying to block the festival in previous years?”
If any incidents of violence took place at the festival, Dolce said, the Police Department would have shut them down and they would not be allowed to operate.
“We meet with the Police Department before the festival to discuss every detail of what could happen and what we would do,” she added. “Everything is discussed. Nothing is left to chance. We also have a huge police presence at the festival.”
Another concern of residents living near the festival was the issue of garbage and waste left by vendors, often after the festival has officially ended.
“We comply with all the community board’s requests. With the noise issue, we turn the music down,” Dolce said. “We use our own garbage pickup service, which is very expensive.”
Dolce stated that the Fresh Pond Road street festival cannot go forward if they do not have permits from the city for everything from the lighting to the rides — which must pass inspection before they can be used — to the vendors.
“We need the proper permits with everything. We cannot do things on our own,” Dolce said. “This is an organization for everyone, all racial and ethnic backgrounds. The festival is a multicultural event. It is wonderful how everyone comes together, especially now that Ridgewood is up and coming. If it gets turned down, it gets turned down. If it goes on, it goes on. If there were any problems, we would not have gone on for 21 years.”
The festival, scheduled to occur this year between Sept. 8-11, takes place along Fresh Pond Road between Menahan and Woodbine streets. For the second-straight year, Community Board 5 recommended that the fair’s permit be denied over various quality-of-life concerns; the city, however, approved last year’s festival, and it went on as planned.
Hoping that history won’t be repeated, the RPOCA launched earlier this month a letter-writing campaign to the executive director of the city’s Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management demanding that the festival be denied a permit.
