Street Fairs

What I have thought about street fairs for years has been independently verified ....

http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-fair0807,0,5961253.story?coll=am-topheadlines

Study: NYC street fairs bland, generic
BY KAREN MATTHEWS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


August 6, 2006, 5:34 PM EDT
Seen one funnel cake, seen them all.

That's the conclusion reached by the Center for an Urban Future, which on Sunday released a report charging that the 367 fairs that crowd city streets annually are bland and generic, with the same vendors selling the same gyros, arepas and tube socks.

"They're all so similar," says Suzanne Wasserman, director of a City University of New York program that studies the city's history, in the report. "You walk through and you have absolutely no sense that you're in New York City. You could just be anywhere."

The report blames the lack of diversity partly on red tape that makes it difficult for new vendors to apply for street fair booths. Vendors who want to sell food must apply in person at the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"A lot of people find they don't want to spend three or four hours at the health department to get a permit," said Mort Berkowitz, president of Mort and Ray Productions, one of a handful of production companies that run the street fairs. "You should be able to do a lot of this stuff online."

The report found that in 2005 a mere 20 vendors held 46 percent of the food permits at the city's fairs.

It said the fairs would have more character if a wider variety of vendors were encouraged to sign up.

"The opportunity seems ripe given that the five boroughs are home to more than 200,000 businesses, thousands of artists and countless entrepreneurs and pushcart vendors, many of whom would jump at the chance to generate additional income, find a new outlet for their products or simply use the fairs as a marketing opportunity," the report said.

Asked about the study on Sunday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "As far as I know, if other vendors wanted to show up and participate they could."

The Center for an Urban Future, a New York City-based think tank, is recommending that the city do more to inform artists and small businesses about the street fairs and streamline the process for booth permits.

It also suggested that the city ask production companies, which run the street fairs for block associations and other organizers, to charge lower fees to New York City-based vendors to add local flavor. Vendors pay about $100 to $400.

Jonathan Bowles, co-author of the report with Tara Colton, said a few fairs stand out for offering more diverse wares, including Little Italy's Feast of San Gennaro, the Bedford Barrow-Commerce Block Association Fair in Greenwich Village and the Seventh Avenue Fair in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood. Those feature a greater variety of food and the works of local artists.