BY JESSICA PARKS
Gracious Bay Ridgeites are
digging into their own pockets
to salvage a decades-old
tradition of stringing holiday
lights along Third Avenue as
it faces uncertainty due to
the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Bay Ridge is a close-knit
community that is very inspiring,”
said Bianca Papas, a
lifelong resident who started
the online fundraiser on Monday.
“Especially when things
are tough everybody really
does get together and try to
fi gure it out for the greater
good.”
For the past 26 years, the
Third Avenue Merchants Association
has covered the
cost of the holiday lights,
which span 30 blocks from
Bay Ridge to Marine avenues.
But, with many businesses
unable to pay their dues to
the group thanks to revenue
losses stemming from the virus
Up to $1,200 per year to buy
OTC products, plus $360
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COURIER L 10 IFE, NOV. 20-26, 2020
outbreak, the organization
was unable to foot the bill
this year.
“They don’t have that nest
egg they have typically had at
the end of the year to put up
the lights,” Papas told Brooklyn
Paper. “They fi gured out
a way to stretch that money
so that can be something that
happens every year, this is the
fi rst year they haven’t been
able to do that on their own.”
The merchants group has
already put together the fi rst
half of funding needed to
bring the holiday lights to fruition,
thanks in large part to a
major contribution from area
Councilman Justin Brannan,
which amounts to a grand total
of $16,000.
Within two days of launching
a fundraiser on Facebook,
Papas raised more than $6,500
towards an $8,000 goal, which
will fund the remaining portion
needed to sponsor the
holiday lights. As of Wednesday
afternoon, Papas had
upped the goal to $9,000, and
brought in close to $8,500.
“It’s astounding, it’s so
beautiful,” Papas said. “It is
exactly what I would hope
from this neighborhood.”
The Bay Ridge tradition is
treasured by neighborhood
residents as it has marked the
beginning of the holiday season
since childhood for many,
and is one of the few holiday
traditions afforded to children
growing up in the city,
Papas said.
The lights also have an
added importance during
the ongoing pandemic as Papas
suspects it could inspire
people to begin their holiday
shopping at a time when local
mom-and-pop shops are struggling
to stay afl oat.
“It would work as a trigger
and kind of getting the wheels
in motion for shopping and
being supportive of our boutiques,
shops, our restaurants
An old string of holiday lights on Third Avenue. Bianca Papas
and bars,” Papas said.
Papas, who also co-organizes
an area Facebook
group dedicated to supporting
South Brooklyn bars and
restaurants, doubled down on
the importance of shopping
local, citing the fate Century
21, a department store she
said many believed to be invincible.
“If that can go, then everybody
is in real, real danger,”
Papas said. “So I think that
we should do whatever we
can do as a community to try
to rally against it and help our
small businesses, any way we
can.”
Any money that exceeds
the fundraiser’s goal will be
used to sponsor a local holiday
celebration later in the
year, Papas said.
Let there be lights
Ridgeites raise thousands to bring annual
holiday tradition back to Third Avenue
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