Long Island City Partnership (LICP) capped off its Lunar New Year celebrations with a ceremonial lion dance through the neighborhood on Friday, Feb. 27, blessing a number of local businesses while ushering in the Year of the Fire Horse.
The lion dance, which aims to bring good luck and prosperity for the coming year, kicked off at LIC Food Hall on 42nd Road before visiting several nearby businesses, including Red Sorghum, Aloft Hotel, Sapps and Soothr.
The procession stopped briefly at Rafferty Triangle, where the ceremonial lions were “fed” lettuce and oranges as a symbol of prosperity.
The event concluded with a blessing of Uswoo Realty and a finale at MoMA PS1 Plaza, featuring giveaways from local businesses, free food and hot chocolate, a special lion dance performance and remarks from elected officials, including Council Member Julie Won and Assembly Member Diana Moreno.
LICP President Laura Rothrock also gave remarks at the finale, praised the Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club for providing a “spectacular” lion dance performance to bring down the curtain on LICP’s Lunar New Year events.
Moreno, appearing at one of her first community events since winning a special election to replace Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the 36th Assembly District last month, makes her “so happy” to raise her child in the district.
“Long Island City is such a thriving place to have these sort of celebrations,” Moreno said. “I am so thrilled that this is part of the district that I am honored to represent.”
Won, on the other hand, said LICP’s annual lion dance celebration gets “bigger and bigger” every year, describing Friday’s celebration as an ideal way to ring in the Year of the Fire Horse.
“This year is the Year of the Fire Horse, and we are really excited to have such independence and ambition and so much greatness coming,” Won said.
Won also honored three local business owners with proclamations during the event, honoring David Lee, owner of the Marathon Hong Kong Diner in the LIC Food Hall; Shih Lee and Crystal Yeung, co-owners of Shi on the LIC waterfront; and Weilun Luo, owner of Master Panda.
Won credited the recipients as being “businesses who truly love their neighborhoods,” adding that businesses can become an indispensible part of the local community.
The event also featured remarks from Queensboro Dance Festival founder Karesia Batan, MoMA PS1 Director of External Affairs Molly Kurzius and representatives from the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
