Last October, we posted this about the two-times-a-year street fair held on Church Avenue between McDonald Avenue and Ocean Parkway:
Socks, clothing, sheets.Jewelry, perfume, magnets.Sausages, roasted corn, lemonade.Things for kids to bounce in.Kitchen Magic.Lotto.
Church Avenue was almost eerie yesterday during the hours that I was at the Church Avenue Bonanza. The large crowd that used to fill the street wasn't there. Maybe the age of generic street fairs is over....
As far back as August 2006, The Center for an Urban Future issued a report describing New York City's street fairs as generic and not representative of New York's uniqueness. These were common complaints about the Church Avenue Bonanza: it had the same merchandise time after time, and local merchants didn't participate in it (although Sean Casey Animal Rescue participated last October and drew the largest number of people of any vendor).
In New York City in 2006,
- 46% of the food permits were held by 20 vendors,
- 9 of the 20 vendors were based outside of the city,
- 3 of the 9 organized more than 200 of the 367 fairs, and
- 25% of the merchandise vendors were based outside of the city.
In September 2008, Mayor Bloomberg declared that (1) the city has too many street fairs, (2) they don't financially help the neighborhoods they're held in, and (3) they're all the same.
In June 2010, the city stopped granting permits for new street fairs. The mayor said the reduction was needed in order to cut the cost of police overtime.
In March 2011, the mayor said the police department's shrinking budget means the city can't afford to provide security at fairs and also fight street crime and terrorism. Other city agencies involved with street fairs also have smaller budgets now.
Rabbi Zvi Florence, who passed away in March 2010, coordinated the Church Avenue Bonanza for many years. During Rabbi Florence's last few years, Michael Hyatt and his mother Susan ran the fair on his behalf. When Mr. Hyatt applied for permits this year--possibly in his own name and possibly in his mother's--the city told him that the fair would be considered a new one and that it isn't granting permits for new fairs.