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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, MARCH 25-31, 2022 BXR
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
An annual church fundraising
event turned sour in 2019 after
rowdy teenagers put Pelham
Bay into a panic over the St. Theresa
Feast.
But after having an uncertain
fate, the event is back this year
with a new focus and new name,
Rev. Thomas Derivan told the
Bronx Times.
It will now be called the Parish
Festival and will focus on local
families and parishioners.
Derivan explained that the feast
started out as a block party, and
the church is trying to reconnect
it to its roots. The event will take
place from Wednesday, June 22
to Sunday, June 26. The five-day
festival is known for having carnival
rides, music, food, games
and vendors, and concludes with
a procession with a St. Theresa
statue.
“We want to get beyond the
adult things and go back to making
it a family celebration, especially
geared towards the children,”
he said.
A video on Facebook shows
teenagers jumping on top of a car
like it’s a trampoline outside the
Buhre Avenue subway station in
June 2019 during and near the St.
Theresa Feast, an annual church
and Catholic school fundraiser
that began in 1997. Residents have
blamed the ruckus on the feast,
saying the teenagers involved
had just left the festival. But the
church feels like it was unfairly
blamed.
A single mother who lacked
comprehensive car insurance because
of her financial situation
told the Bronx Times in 2019 her
car faced damages from the unruliness,
including a broken sunroof.
She claimed the teens were
in the neighborhood because of
the feast.
According to residents, there
were other incidents of mayhem
causing locals distress, but the
NYPD did not respond to requests
for details on what occurred that
night.
In 2019, concerned locals created
a petition that drew 325 signatures
and urged a discussion of
safety measures before another
permit was issued for the festival.
But at a Jan. 19, 2020 Community
Board 10 meeting, a permit
for the event was rejected in a
14-2 advisory vote, with 10 abstentions.
“Board members felt that in
previous years, disruptive individuals
have caused havoc in the
surrounding area as well as causing
property damage,” the 2020
meeting minutes stated. “Many
noted the issues are lack of police
presence, violence and negative
effect on residents who live
within the street closures.”
St. Theresa Church emphasized
that the incidents took place
outside the borders of the festival.
But feast planning efforts were
ultimately abolished anyway
in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
But on Thursday, CB10 unanimously
approved a permit for the
Children ride the Jumpin’ Star at the St. Theresa Feast in 2014.Photo | Laura Stone
event to happen this year.
CB10 District Manager Matt
Cruz said in an interview with
the Bronx Times that while
board members were uncomfortable
granting the permit in 2020,
they now want to give the event
another chance. He said that
while the incidents didn’t take
place within the feast, they were
caused by older kids who had just
come from the event, according to
area residents — a claim Derivan
said there is no proof of.
While the board has historically
asked organizers not to advertise
the feast on social media
or television to contain the event,
board members emphasized the
point this year, Cruz said. The
main change in security is that
the event will have police on
horseback.
“It’s normally a familyfriendly
environment, but every
now and then we get some older
teenagers who want to stop by
and not go for the right reasons,”
Cruz said. “And we just try to be
mindful of that.”
St. Theresa Feast is approved to
return following controversial past
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