Celebratory concert draws vaxxed
crowds to Brooklyn Army Terminal
BY BEN VERDE
Hundreds of hip-hop fans
gathered at the Brooklyn
Army Terminal on Aug. 19
for a rocking music-fest marking
the city’s revival from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The free “Homecoming Concert,”
offi cially sponsored by
the City of New York, brought
some of the biggest fi gures of
hip-hop to Kings County — including
Big Daddy Kane, Papoose,
Maino, and Desiigner.
Thursday’s show on the
Sunset Park Waterfront, where
all attendees were required to
be vaccinated, came one day
ahead of the fi nal city-run concert
in Central Park on Friday
night, which will feature the
likes of Bruce Springsteen,
The Killers, Jennifer Hudson,
and more.
As through the past week
of borough-based concerts,
attendees were addressed by
newly minted MCs, Mayor Bill
de Blasio and Majority Leader
Charles Schumer, also known
as “Killer Chuck” — who
made for himself as a rapper
at the Bronx concert by dancing
on stage and rapping about
a plaque.
“Juumane Williams says
he the highest-ranking Black
offi cial in New York, what
about me?” Schumer joked to
scattered laughs, before busting
into another short rap.
BY BEN BRACHFELD
The beloved 18th Avenue
Feast returned Thursday
night, Aug. 19, bringing 10
days of revelry to the streets of
Bensonhurst.
The festival, also known
as the Feast of Santa Rosalia,
takes place on 18th Avenue in
Bensonhurst, co-named Cristoforo
Colombo Boulevard,
between 68th Street and Bay
Ridge Parkway each year at
the end of August.
Like many events it had to
be canceled last year due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decades-old festival
— known as just “the Feast”
to locals — celebrates Italian-
American heritage, and in
particular the patron saint
of Palermo, Santa Rosalia.
The festival features carnival
rides, games, entertainment,
and copious amounts of food.
Night one saw a performance
COURIER LIFE, A 38 UG. 27-SEPT. 2, 2021
from the band Cause
& The Effects. Performances
will go on each night, with the
headliner Angelo Venuto performing
on Aug. 28.
The feast saw good turnout
for its fi rst night back, according
to Angelo Timoneri, the
event’s treasurer.
“I think it went very well,
there was a nice turnout, the
weather was nice, it cooperated,
and I saw a lot of people
having a great time,” Timoneri
said. “I was happy to see it
back.”
Revelries will continue until
Aug. 29, open from 6 to 11
pm on weekdays and from 2 to
11 on weekends. The organizers
are encouraging diligent
masking, and are spacing vendors
further apart than they
normally would, Timoneri
says, though he concedes enforcement
is diffi cult at a festival
that’s free and open to the
public.
The party is living on in
Bensonhurst even as other
major events are canceling
their planned 2021 iteration,
owing to rising COVID-19
case rates in the city. Just this
week, organizers for two of
PARTY PEOPLE: (above) Hundreds
of fully vaccinated fans came out
to the Brooklyn Army Terminal on
Thursday, Aug. 19 for Brooklyn’s iteration
of the city’s ‘Homecoming’
concerts. (Left) Performers take
the stage for th “It’s time for Hip
Hop in NYC” homecoming concert
in Brooklyn.
Ed Reed/Mayoral Photo Offi ce
Brooklyn’s most beloved parades,
the West Indian Day Parade
and the Mermaid Parade,
announced that the planned
events would be canceled this
year.
Homecoming!
18th Ave.Feast returns to Bensonhurst
BROOKLYN
Taste of Brooklyn
(Left) The annual Feast of Santa Rosalia, aka the 18th Avenue Feast, returned to Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard
with carnival rides, games and Italian street foods on Thursday, Aug. 19. (Right) A vendor prepares some street
meat at the opening night Photos by Paul Frangipane