It's Official! Weekend Walks Coming To 18th Avenue This Summer

Source: Department of Transportation website.

Save the dates! Weekend Walks are coming to Bensonhurst’s 18th Avenue in July.

Every summer, the Department of Transportation [DOT] partners with community groups to present multi-block neighborhood events, by temporarily closing commercial streets to vehicles and opening them to walking and other activities.

This year, DOT has approved an application by the Federation of Italian American Organizations [FIAO] to shut down parts of 18th Avenue, allowing local businesses to engage with the community and showcase their goods and services.

The two-day event, which will take place on separate weekends to accommodate DOT regulations, will transform 18th Avenue on Sunday, July 19, between 62nd Street and 75th Street and on Saturday, July 26, between 75th Street and 85th Street. The designated areas will be closed to traffic between 1pm and 6pm on both days.

The 18th Avenue event will be similar to the popular Summer Stroll on 3rd in Bay Ridge, which has involved activities like outdoor cafes, scavenger hunts, opera and Broadway performances, guitar strumming, chess games, and more.

In a joint statement, FIAO chairman Jack Spatola and Carlo Scissura, president and CEO Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, said they hoped the event would highlight the rich cultural diversity on the commercial strip.

“Bensonhurst over the years has been a melting pot of cultures. The various cultures are highlighted in the many diverse businesses that are represented along 18th avenue,” they said. “Hosting the 18th Avenue Weekend Walk in our community will showcase all that Bensonhurst has to offer from restaurants to retail stores to world renowned bakeries.”

Now the challenge is getting the word out to 18th Avenue business owners and encouraging them to participate in the multi-block party, according Community Board [CB] 11 District Manager Marnee Elias-Pavia.

“The weekend walks are really about the merchants on 18th Avenue. There’s no outside vendors, there’s no one selling anything except for the merchants,” said Elias Pavia at a recent CB 11 meeting. “They’ll be able to do whatever they want outside their stores, If they want to have entertainment, if a restaurant wants to put out tables and chairs or a sidewalk cafe, which they might not have — we are hoping that it takes off this year.”

FIAO has gone door-to-door to inform 18th Avenue merchants of the event, and they are asking community members to help spread the word in order to make the event a success.