By Bill Parry
The people behind the Long Island City Partnership are not letting the MTA derail their plans for an ambitious, full-scale street festival in May.
The city Department of Transportation will close off Vernon Boulevard between 46th and 50th avenues for the first LIC Spring Stroll.
The event will be held May 17 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. despite the weekend service shutdown on the No. 7 train from Times Square to the 74th Street-Broadway station in Jackson Heights.
“We would’ve liked to pick a date when the 7 was running, but this neighborhood event will be worth coming to LIC for, whether the subway is running or not,” LIC Partnership President Elizabeth Lusskin said. “You can get here with the free shuttle bus from Queensboro Plaza, and at the north end of Vernon we can pull people in from Court Square where the G train will still be running. It’s worth a little inconvenience to get to LIC.”
Along with the 22 weekends of suspended service on the No. 7, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans on shutting down the G line for five straight weeks beginning July 26 for repairs in the tunnel between Greenpoint and Long Island City. The tube was flooded with 3 million gallons of saltwater during Hurricane Sandy, according to the MTA.
There are plenty more travel options available for out-of-towners, according to Dana Frankel, the Partnership’s director of economic development.
“We’ll partner with the East River Ferry for the event for the folks coming from Manhattan and Brooklyn, and there’s always bikes,” she said.
Visitors from the other boroughs is not the partnership’s chief concern.
“We serve the entire neighborhood and getting the people from the waterfront high-rises to come onto Vernon would be a plus,” Frankel said.
LIC Spring Stroll is scheduled to coincide with the annual showcase event known as LIC Arts Open.
“The block party will serve as a pivot point to draw more people to the LIC Arts Open. We’re going to pull people in and then push them out to the other events happening in the neighborhood,” Lusskin said. “In fact, we scheduled it from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. so you can come after brunch and before dinner at our area restaurants.”
The street fair will include sculpture-making and a stage will be set up for live music performances and comedy.
The LIC Spring Stroll is being coordinated with the DOT’s Weekend Walks Program, which will allow restaurants to set up tables and chairs and serve food and drinks along the sidewalks without special permits from the city. Merchants will be encouraged to set up on the sidewalks as well.
“It’s not just for the Vernon businesses. This includes anyone from Jackson Avenue, Center Boulevard,” Lusskin said. “This is going to be a neighborhood celebration, not just a commercial street fair where you go and buy tube socks.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718.260.4538.
