While this year’s New Hyde Park Street Fair takes place one day before the first official day of fall, the event keeps the spirit of summer alive a little longer for the 20,000-25,000 attendees.
Organizers are looking to up the ante for the 19th annual event on Saturday, Sept. 20, with the usual clowns and crafts supplemented by a petting zoo, pony rides and a new children’s carnival, from New Hyde Park-based Send in the Clowns.
“We try to capatilize on all the elements of the fair that work and modify ones that need work,” said New Hyde Park Village Board Research Assistant/Fair
Coordinator Janet Bevers. “The fair has been in place for 19 years now so in essence we follow a similar format. We invite all the village merchants to participate.”
The pony rides will be stationed near the Green Meadow Farms petting zoo on Lakeville Road, with the carnival setting up shop in the village’s Central Boulevard parking lot.
“It’s exciting to see a local company taking on a big piece of the fair,” Bevers said.
Fair reps expect at least 220 vendors to line the street fair this year. In the fair’s inaugural outing in 1995, just 90 craft vendors showed up.
“I think it’s one of the biggest events in Nassau County,” Queens-based Craft-A-Fair President Tony Ciuffo said. “The fair accentuates the local merchants.
Every year it gets more and more exciting. I expect new vendors this year. Around 25 percent of the vendors will be new this year.”
Each year, vendors rent space on the turnpike from New Hyde Park Road, continuing west to Covert Avenue. Last year, a few extra blocks were added near Lakeville Road.
Former trustee Florence Lisanti was one of the first organizers of the street fair, who trustee Donald Barbieri commended for leading the charge.
“[The fair] is a great day for the community,” he stated. “We’re proud to have all our local organizations along the turnpike. The merchants get to showcase what they do. We are very proud of the street fair.”
Local merchants, Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce members, charity and service groups can set up tables on the sidewalk free of charge, Bevers said.
“We view the fair as the premiere street fair on Long Island,” Bevers stated. “It goes about a square mile. The community feel to the fair is crucial. It’s a big fair and still retains its local charact
er and charm.”
Long Island Checker Cab will bring out its old-fashioned ice cream truck, doling out treats to fair attendees in exchange for donations. Bevers said the Ronald McDonald House will participate as well as the local chapter of the AARP.
The New Hyde Park Fire Department will provide safety details and set up a recruiting table at South 12th Street and Yorkshire Food, a local distributor of Wise Chips, will be handing out free snacks near South 8th Street.
Local charities will be on hand, including the New Hyde Park Museum, New Hyde Park Memorial High School Dads Club, Model UN, Manor Oaks School, Hillside Grade School, New Hyde Park Road School, Knights of Columbus, The Gladiator Fund, G&E Linder VFW, New Hyde Park Fire Department’s ladies auxiliary, village beautification committee, among others.
