NYC’s biggest street festival, Atlantic Antic, celebrates 40 years

September 29, 2014 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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The Atlantic Antic celebrated its 40th anniversary on Sunday when the more-than-a-mile-long street festival showcased what makes Brooklyn so cool. The fair included 13 stages of live music, a vast array of different kinds of food and hundreds of tents selling goods from all over the borough.

“What is great about this day is that it really expresses the diversity of this borough,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “Brooklyn is where it’s at. I love this borough; we have a great love affair and romance that I hope never ends. Welcome to Brooklyn, the center of the universe.”

Hundreds of thousands of people packed Atlantic Avenue, where the festival stretched from Hicks Street, near the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park, all the way to Fourth Avenue by Barclays Center. The event is considered the biggest street festival in all of New York City.

Festival-goers found all types of food, from Dinosaur BBQ to Caribbean food to chicken and waffles from Buttermilk Channel. The festival offered plenty of traditional street fair grub, including funnel cake, sausages and roasted corn. The 13 stages featured bands just as diverse as the food, including a group of 14-year-old rockers.

“As the Atlantic Antic celebrates its 40th anniversary, it is more vibrant and exciting than ever,” said Aaron Watkins, the host and emcee at the festival’s main stage. “It has become a celebration of all that is good and positive in the borough. It is this spirit of community and commerce that has made Brooklyn the place to be.”

“This is truly one of the great festivals in the world, and it’s here in Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue, from the gorgeous gateway at Brooklyn Bridge Park all the way up to the crossroads of Flatbush Avenue,” said State Sen. Daniel Squadron. “So enjoy, eat, drink and be merry. And, like my son, get a lot of balloons.”

The Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation (AALDC), the group that organized the festival, gave out awards, including an Atlantic Avenue Ambassador Award to Assemblymember Joan Millman, who has announced that she is leaving the state assembly after the next election.

“You see this wonderful festival, and every year it is getting bigger and stronger and better and part of it has to do with the great work that Joan Millman has done throughout her tenure in office,” said U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez, who presented Millman with the award.

“In the last couple of days, I’ve been having some Derek Jeter moments,” Millman joked. “This is the last time I am going to be doing this, but I want to thank all of everyone that [has] lived in the 52nd Assembly District for giving me their support that allowed me to do what I could. Thank you to the wonderful business on Atlantic Avenue. We are all truly blessed to live in the great borough of Brooklyn.”

After Millman was presented with her award, Councilmember Stephen Levin presented the Atlantic Avenue Pioneer Awards to Howard Lewis, co-founder of the festival, and to all of the businesses that have been on the avenue for the last 40 years: Montero’s Bar & Grill, Weiss & Sons, Herminia “Emma” Sullivan, Tripoli, Oriental Pastry & Grocery, Sahadi’s Fine Foods, Horseman Antiques, Circa Antiques, Cathedral of St. Cyril of Turou, House of the Lord Church, Melting Pot, Hoyt Street Garden, YMCA Brooklyn and Damascus.