52 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • APRIL 26, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Astoria Park Alliance celebrates Earth Day with an eco-friendly fair
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com / @jen_bagcal
Th e Astoria Park Alliance kicked off
Earth Day with their second-annual Earth
Day Shore Fest Spring Kickoff on Sunday,
April 22, hosting several activities that
promoted recycling, sustainability and
environmental awareness.
Th e Earth Day Shore Fest took place
in the park’s main lawn between Shore
Boulevard and 19th Street. Th e free event
featured companies and city organizations
including the New York City Department
of Sanitation, Citi Bike and Riverkeeper.
Attendees participated in a beekeeping
demonstration, a honey tasting and
an Earth-themed magic show, and they
learned how to build a solar oven, among
other events.
“We had about 392 RSVPs on our
Eventbrite,” said Martha Lopez Gilpin, the
chair of the Astoria Park Alliance. Gilpin
estimates the event attracted between 300
and 500 people, with many of the attendees
coming from Brooklyn. She added
that there were people at the park expressing
interest, though they were not offi cially
part of the event.
Th e Astoria Park Alliance (APA) was
founded in 2007 by a group of volunteers
who wanted to ensure the park was clean
and welcoming to the community. One of
those volunteers is Douglas Monaco, who
is the APA’s marketing and communications
director.
“It’s about being doers and showing
the public that small steps lead to larger
change,” Monaco said. He added that
the APA’s next “big push” is to make the
park itself more sustainable and ecologically
friendly.
Monaco says that he fi rst became interested
in volunteering a few years ago
when he got started with the Big Brother
organization.
“Th e program was called ‘Streetwise’
and when that ended, I wanted to fi ll
the void in my life,” Monaco said. “I was
enjoying a walk in the park when I saw
the sign for Shore Fest and reached out to
the Astoria Park Alliance.” He soon put in
charge of the organization’s communication
initiative.
Councilman Costa Constantinides,
who represents the 22nd District covering
Astoria and Long Island City, gave
closing remarks during which he reminded
attendees that “every day is Earth Day.”
During his time as a council member,
Constantinides has supported environmental
policy by proposing a bill to reduce
carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.
In addition, the councilman wants to
increase the use of solar, wind, geothermal
and bio fuels, according to the New York
City Council’s website.
Photo courtesy of the Astoria Park Alliance
Monaco said that community response
to APA’s eff orts have been “overwhelmingly
positive” and added that the alliance
started a suggestion box on Typeform for
anyone interested in coming up with projects
to work on in the community.
Th e Astoria Park Alliance meets every
other Saturday in the park for community
volunteer projects. Th eir next endeavor is
“Astoria Park Beautifi cation,” which will
take place on April 28 at 10 a.m., which
Monaco said is open to the public.
Astoria Park Alliance Volunteers at the 2nd Annual Earth Day celebration
Chip, bakery in Astoria, to open ice cream shops in May and June
BY ANGELA MATUA
editorial@qns.com
Th e gooey, fl uff y cookies at Chip in
Astoria have exploded in popularity and
the owners are planning to expand and
even branch out into making ice cream.
Chip Ice Cream will open on May 1st
at 42-18 31st Ave., where popular nightclub
Cavo used to be located, according
to manager Vicki Lambropoulou. Th e
space will sell a variety of ice cream with
chunks of the shop’s signature cookies,
along with ice cream sandwiches and coffee.
We Heart Astoria fi rst reported on
the shop’s opening.
In addition to the ice cream shop,
Lambropoulou said Chip will open a bakery
in Long Island City near Queens Plaza
on June 15 and a location in Brooklyn in
July that will serve both cookies and ice
cream. Th e Astoria bakery is located at
30-06 34th St.
“It’s very busy so the company is growing
up very fast,” she said.
Th e owners also run a stand at Chelsea’s
Gansevoort Market in Manhattan.
Off erings at their locations include
Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip
Walnut, Funfetti, Butterscotch Toff ee,
Carrot Cake, S’mores, Nutella Sea Salt
and more. Th e shop also whips up special
fl avors for holidays like Easter and St.
Patrick’s Day.
Food Envy, a food-centric website, in
a video recently named Chip cookies the
“gooeyest” in New York. Th e shop is so
popular that lines usually wrap around
the building.
“Chip began as a hobby, as we sought
to recreate the simple taste of our favorite
childhood sweet,” the owners wrote
on the website. “Each of our cookie creations
are baked daily with the richest
ingredients and with the utmost love and
care. We are committed to providing each
and every one of our customers with the
best tasting cookie experience they have
ever had.”
Chip in Astoria is open on Tuesdays
through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
and on weekends from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Photos via Facebook/ChipNewYorkCity
Chip will open an ice cream shop in Astoria next month and a new location in Long Island City in
June.
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