New Hurdles for Block Parties
Yesterday Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman sent out a note reminding residents that the city has tightened restrictions on block parties, reducing “the total amount of time for block parties from what had been up to 12 hours (from 9am to 9pm) to a new maximum of any 9-hour period between 9am and…
Yesterday Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman sent out a note reminding residents that the city has tightened restrictions on block parties, reducing “the total amount of time for block parties from what had been up to 12 hours (from 9am to 9pm) to a new maximum of any 9-hour period between 9am and 9pm.” In addition, the city is now requiring that all applications for block parties be submitted electronically; the new procedures and rules are explained in this PDF memo. Killjoy or good news?
Photo by Sugar Pond.
> im not your personal court jester
True enough, you’re more of a court kvetcher.
Don’t they end at 8 now? I’ve never seen a block party still going/cars blocked off after dark. And yes, it’s a hassle to have to dodge the closed blocks on Saturdays in the summer, but you can’t judge a block party by what’s going on at 11 a.m.! We used to have great ones on our block in Clinton Hill–face painters, bouncy castle, pony rides, great food.
The amplified music thing makes people bonkers, too. Maybe the City should restrict those permits, or restrict the hours of those permits.
Sounds like enforcing the 9pm end time, which was already in place, is more of an issue than 9 vs 12 hours in total.
Thank god. The block party on my block lasts ALL day – from 9 in the morning until 2AM. I know its supposed to be for everyone, but its not. And I’m tired of finding something else to do all day, and somewhere else to sleep while its going on.
Excellent. Last year our “block party” was more like several uncoordinated individual houses playing different music at the same time at high volume, which persisted until 3 am.
I have planned and executed my block’s block party for the past 11 years, and I’m dismayed by the new 9 hour restriction. In the morning, the littlest children come out. We have donuts, provide arts and crafts, and they stage a trike parade. In the midday, the little ones take a nap, and the soccer players and bike riders rule the street. We have a big pot luck dinner, attended usually by about 100 people in the early evening, and as twilight descends, the older children enjoy the amazing freedom of screeching around on their bicycles in the dark.
Twelve full hours of nonstop fun, one day a year. What possible benefit can the City get from taking three hours away from that? To all you poor drivers who have to drive around our block for that single day, boo effing hoo to you.
Biff, my land yacht aside (which I never drive and can’t even get my friends to drive these days), I couldn’t care less about traffic being interrupted, blocks being closed off, or time limits on block parties for that matter.
But, I do find, more often than not, that I walk past a closed off block only to find nothing more than the 4 people in lawn chairs and 3 kids on bikes that Brenda describes. No sweat off my back, but I always wonder why they bother.
Sometimes there’s a petting zoo! I’ve seen several in Brooklyn Heights where they brought in a bunch of animals. Some of the adults couldnt correctly identify all the animals (chickens, calf, goats, llama, rabbits), which was a little troubling.