FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com MAY 28, 2015 • TIMES 3 Four-day Ridgewood street festival back on the calendar BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@timesnewsweekly.com @robbpoz Despite Community Board 5’s disapproval, the four-day Fresh Pond Road Street Festival will happen this September. Lucy Dolce of the Federazione Italo-Americana di Brooklyn and Queens, which sponsors the annual fair, said on May 21 that the Street Activity Permits Offi ce (SAPO) granted approval of its application. The festival will occur on four consecutive nights, Sept. 3 to 6, along a fi ve-block stretch of Fresh Pond Road between Menahan and Woodbine streets. Back in March, Board 5 voted to recommend denial of a street fair permit for the festival over concerns regarding traffi c and various qualityof life issues. Following the board’s vote, the organizers appealed their case to the SAPO, which makes the fi nal determination on all street permits citywide. The Fresh Pond Road festival has been a late summer fi xture in the neighborhood for more than 20 years, featuring a variety of games, rides, vendors and other attractions. But the festival’s presence garnered stiff opposition from residents for myriad reasons, from traffi c congestion and lost parking spots related to the road’s closure, to reports of disorderly behavior among patrons and refuse left behind on the roadway. Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano confirmed the SAPO approval, noting that the offi ce indicated the reasons the board gave for the license’s denial weren’t enough to shelve a festival that has occurred regularly since the mid-1990s. Dolce charged that the allegations of unruly behavior at the fair were exaggerated and that the organizers worked to make sure Fresh Pond Road was swept clean immediately after each night’s festivities. “We didn’t want any problems with the festival,” Dolce said. “But no matter what we did, it wasn’t right. No matter what I said or what we did to prove ourselves, it was never enough.” As for parking and traffi c concerns, Dolce sympathized with the situation but remarked that the four-day inconvenience was a small price to pay for a festival that helps support the community. “They should be proud that in our community we can put together a four-day festival without any major incidents happening,” she said. “Do you think the police department would let us go forward if they thought something would go wrong?” Giordano said the festival itself “has been a benefi t in some ways, but members of the Ridgewood community who live near there have diffi culties with the fair.” “The fair, while it is enjoyable for many people, does — in the opinion of many community board members — put strains on the community” with regard to traffi c, Giordano said. He noted that Fresh Pond Road, as one of the area’s main north-south arteries, is “a tougher block” to close than most other locations where street fairs are held, such as Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood and Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village. “At the same time, the federazione, to my knowledge, has used the funds they have earned for some good purposes,” he added. RIDGEWOOD TIMES/File photo The Fresh Pond Road street festival will go on as planned this September. Salvation Army opening store in Middle Village BY ANTHONY GIUDICE agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport The Salvation Army is opening up shop in Middle Village this June. The new location, which will open at 73-26 Metropolitan Ave., will be a Salvation Army family store where patrons will be able to fi nd great deals on second-hand clothing, furniture, appliances, accessories, jewelry, toys and much more. A former pharmacy, the location has been vacant for many years. “The Salvation Army is been interested in the site for a number of years. However we were only recently able to negotiate an affordable purchase,” said Joe Irvine, an administrator for the Salvation Army. “We look forward to becoming a community partner.” The proceeds from the family store will help fund the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) program, an intense six-month, faith-based, work therapy, drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. “We have been running a defi cit throughout the winter,” Irvine said of the ARC program. “We get no federal, state, city or other funding for the program. We’ve needed to borrow money from the Salvation Army headquarters. This store is a rejuvenation of the project.” “We’re totally dependent on these stores,” he continued. “It also gives us an opportunity for certain individuals in the program to get job training. That’s the great thing about our program: it is real-world therapy.” This location will become the 11th installation for the Salvation Army’s Brooklyn/Staten Island ARC area command. “The store will provide up to 10 employment positions for local residents,” Irvine said. “We hope to open the store June 19. There will be door prizes and giveaways celebrating the grand opening.” “We have already noticed that it is a very family-oriented area,” Irvine added. “We think that we will be a welcomed clothing store to the area. We look forward to being a part of the community.” Photo courtesy Joseph Irvine The storefront of the Salvation Army’s new Middle Village locatio
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