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 outbreak,
the organization was unable
to foot the bill this year.
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“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
and bars,” Papas said.
Papas, who also co-organizes
an area Facebook group
An old string of holiday lights on Third Avenue. Bianca Papas
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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