We wanted to share with you a new report we published on Thursday which concludes that the vast majority of New York City street fairs are bland and repetitive. Our report features ideas for improving these staples of summer from 25 innovative New Yorkers, including the founder of Chowhound, the organizer of Red Hook Food Vendors and the founders of successful markets like the New York City Greenmarket, Union Square Holiday Market, Brooklyn Flea and Chelsea Market. — Center for an Urban Future, publicizing its report, “New Visions for New York Street Fairs“
I tend to think most street fairs are overrated—there are only so many cheaply-made faux-ethnic earring booths one can tolerate—so I look forward to reading these folks suggestions for improvements.
Got some suggestions of your own? Send them to streetfairs@nycfuture.org; CUF will publish some of the ones they like later this summer. Or leave some ideas in the comments here! This is an idea we’ve been discussing a lot lately round these parts, in light of the Greenpoint Food Market situation, so I definitely plan to compile and send in some thoughts …
Here’s some more coverage of the CUF report:
Samba Show? Artisans? Group Reimagines NYC Street Fairs >>
How Do You Get NY’s Street Fairs Past Fried Dough? >>
Will There Be a Street Fair (R)Evolution? >>
A few days ago, the New York Post reported on Mayor Bloomberg’s promises to further limit the city’s street fairs (the Post, or at least one of its contributors, seems to feel pretty strongly that the correct number to “limit” the fairs to is zero).
Perhaps most disappointing (but least surprising) is realizing that what’s holding back some of the visions of what the city’s street fairs could be like from becoming a reality is the city itself, or at least those that govern it.
… officials said they face significant legal hurdles in trying to limit and re-engineer the fairs, including the right of community sponsors to select the vendors they want.
The city is “looking into” (I’m beginning to loathe this phrase) changing regulations to allow more “more efficient use of street space and city resources,” a spokeswoman says.
There’s no timetable for the new regulations.
The city took in $1.6 million in fees from fairs last year, but spent $4 million on police overtime.
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