Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge’s 5 Ave. Spring Festival offers food, fun, frivolity

June 3, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Michael Arkous and Anita Mercado bite into ears of corn, one of the many delicious foods available at the festival. Eagle photos by Paula Katinas
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The weather forecasters predicted a deluge for Sunday afternoon, but the rain held off until the end of the Fifth Avenue Spring Festival in Bay Ridge, a delay that allowed hundreds of thousands of people the chance to enjoy the food, rides, games, music and other sights and sounds.

The rainstorm didn’t start until 6 p.m., the close of the festival, which began at noon.

The festival, which ran along Fifth Avenue from Bay Ridge Avenue (69th Street) to 85th Street, had a little something for everyone; outdoor cafes, rides for kids, carnival games, rock bands performing in concert, even a karaoke contest— Bean Post Idol— in which contestants sang Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” and other 1960s classics.

The street fair was sponsored by the Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), a public-private partnership representing the interests of property owners, merchants and residents on Fifth Avenue between 65th and 85th streets, one of Southwest Brooklyn’s premiere shopping strips. The BID works to plant trees, install benches, sweep away litter and generally beautify the avenue to attract customers so that storeowners can benefit and the local economy can improve.

The festival is considered by many in Bay Ridge to be a highlight of the spring season in the community.

Another highlight was the 11th Annual Pizza Eating Contest at Rocco’s Pizzeria at 7818 Fifth Ave., won by Geoffrey Esper of Massachusetts, who ate an astounding 28 slices of pizza in 12 minutes.

Rocco’s owner Dan Loccisano and his crew had plenty of the restaurant’s famous 18-inch large pies ready for the hungry contestants to eat. “They have to eat the whole pie, even the crust!” Loccisano told the Brooklyn Eagle last week.

The contest, which always draws a large crowd of spectators, raises money for charity. “Every year, we donate money to a local charity,” Loccisano said. This year, Loccisano is donating the funds raised at the contest to Pietro’s Fight, a nonprofit organization formed to raise money and awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare form of the disease.

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