Tasty treats abound on Fifth Avenue

June 23, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge will be filled with sidewalk cafes on June 24 for the first-ever Taste of Fifth Avenue. This is a scene from the recent Fifth Avenue Spring Festival on June 5. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas

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Fresh off its successful Fifth Avenue Spring Festival held earlier this month, the Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) is getting set to host another fun-filled event.

The first-ever Taste of Fifth Avenue will take place on Friday, June 24 on the avenue between 73rd and 83rd streets from 6 to 10 p.m.

Many of the avenue’s restaurants will be putting out sidewalk cafes to give customers a chance to dine al fresco.

BID leaders are inviting everyone to stroll along the commercial avenue, shop and dine.

The Bay Ridge end of Fifth Avenue boasts hundreds of shops and restaurants.

The event will also feature live music and dance performances.

There will also be a pizza eating contest outside Rocco’s Pizzeria at 7818 Fifth Ave. at 7:30 p.m.

The 12th Annual Pizza Eating Contest was scheduled to take place at the Fifth Avenue Spring Festival but was canceled due to concerns about the weather that day. The threat of rain kept the pizza eaters away.

But the owner of Rocco’s vowed to find an alternative date for the contest and chose to hold the event at Taste of Fifth Avenue.

“It’s going to be a great way to kick off the weekend!” a spokesperson for Rocco’s Pizzeria told the Brooklyn Eagle via email.

The winner of the contest will be awarded a grand prize of $2,000. Cash prizes will also be given to the second and third place finishers.

The Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue BID is a public-private partnership composed of property owners, merchants, residents and city officials that works to promote the avenue in the interest of attracting shoppers and boosting the local economy. The New York City Department of Small Business Services oversees the Bay Ridge BID, as well as the city’s other BIDs.

There are more than 300 stores located within the Bay Ridge Fifth Avenue BID’s zone, which runs from 65th Street to 85th Street.

The Taste of Fifth Avenue was partly inspired by the highly successful Summer Stroll on 3rd events sponsored by the Merchants of Third Avenue, during which portions of the commercial street are closed to vehicular traffic so that a pedestrian plaza can be created.

The Merchants group has been hosting summer strolls since 2012.

The Fifth Avenue happening is part of the Weekend Walks program sponsored by the city’s Department of Transportation.

Under Weekend Walks, streets are closed to cars for a day so that the city can turn the thoroughfares over to pedestrians.

“Each year, the New York City Department of Transportation partners with community groups to present Weekend Walks — multi-block neighborhood events on commercial streets temporarily closed to vehicles and opened to walking and other activities. Business improvement districts, cultural organizations, local merchants’ associations and community groups host Weekend Walks as a fun way to highlight local businesses and neighborhood resources. They create wonderful opportunities for New Yorkers to gather, see their neighborhoods in a new way and rediscover their community,” a description on www.nyc.gov/dot reads.

Another Taste of Fifth Avenue event is scheduled to take place on Friday, Aug. 26.

For more information, call the BID at 718-238-8181.