Don’t miss the 5th annual Queens World Film Festival (QWFF) which kicks off on Tuesday, March 17 and runs through Sunday, March 22, with daily screenings at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City and at PS 69 in Jackson Heights!
The QWFF has been a committed partner to 78th Street Plaza bringing us the FlicNic outdoor movie series every summer.
For tickets and festival schedule see www.queensworldfilmfestival.com
We were disappointed to hear that Assemblyman DenDekker recently claimed that the city’s Vision Zero program is not effective and that the funds for it should be allocated elsewhere, as seen in the article linked to here:
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150211/jackson-heights/vision-zero-does-nothing-keep-streets-safe-assemblyman-says
Please contact Assemblyman DenDekker’s office and express your disappointment in his statement, we should support the very important steps that Vision Zero is taking to reduce pedestrian fatalities and improve the city for those who don’t only drive cars.
Contact his office here:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Michael-G-DenDekker/
| Dear friends and neighbors, please join us as we take a look back at all the events that took place on the 78th Street Plaza over this past year. We had a lot of fun, the plaza was a valuable and much-needed addition to our neighborhood and we’re looking forward to the coming years! The Jackson Heights Green Alliance is responsible for the Plaza, including the maintenance of the space. Thanks to the wonderful Neighborhood Plaza Partnership, we are able to use the services of ACE and the Horticultural Society to help keep the plaza beautiful. We pay for this through a combination of City Council funding, and donations.If you would like to support the JHGA, you can make a donation to us through our website here - jhgreen.org/support-us Now let’s look back at the year… |
This Summer… We were fortunate to take part in a program organized by our friends at Queens Community House. It allowed us to bring a lot of activities to the 78th Street Plaza for 3 months and it was a huge success.
Thanks to this partnership, and the Live Healthy program from Emblem Health, we offered all sorts of fun.
To get the blood flowing we had Zumba, exercise classes by Kiki, Yoga classes held by instructors from the Mimi-for-Me Yoga Studio.
We had cooking demos, by Sonya Gropman and others, health workshops by various notable guests and members of the Jackson Heights community. The Live Healthy program continues throughout Winter with many free classes, taking place at the Renaissance School on 81st St in Jackson Heights.
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| Other events…We were lucky to yet again host Chhaya’s Chatpati Mela event which has always been a wonderful, huge party that attracts hundreds of people. They had a fashion show, dance groups, food, vendors and more.
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| Thanks to our friends at the Jackson Heights Beautification Group, once again PAL was present almost every weekday throughout the Summer. They offered a free daycamp to any kid who showed up and registered, many people enjoyed this - playing basketball, board games and learning new activities to play with friends.The JHBG also brought their much-loved music festival - Summer Sundays - to the Plaza once again, featuring local and other musicians and performers. |
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Even more events…
DJ Tony Mac returned! After not being able to make it last year, neighborhood resident and samaritan, DJ Tony Mac brought back his 78th Street Plaza dance party!
He played music and organized games for all of the kids who were on the plaza that evening.
It was a huge success, dozens of kids had a great time, and most of them won prizes - above all, they had a lot of fun!
We love volunteer initiatives like this!
Kids Music Together held a free event, open to the public, towards the end of the Summer. It was great fun for all the little ones who joined in..
…and their parents! |
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And more!
De Facto dance studio returned! We love them, and their annual Play Street Dance. They are some of our longest-running partners, we hope they will keep coming back!
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Flicnic!Our good friends at the Queens World Film Festival returned as well, bringing movies on two evenings to 78th Street. These have always been wonderful events and we’re proud to partner with them.
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We hope you enjoyed this look back at the Plaza in 2014. It’s nice to remind ourselves just how much fun was had in this space.We are excited that soon it will have an even bigger impact on our neighborhood, once it is integrated into the new design for that area. We are hoping that the NYC Parks Department will soon be able to announce their plans for the design for the space, and we will make sure to involve the Jackson Heights Community in the process, so we can all decide how the Plaza, Travers Park and the Rory Staunton Field will end up benefiting the residents of our neighborhood.
Speaking of the Rory Staunton Field, let’s not forget the gorgeous mural that neighborhood artist Carlo Nieva made with the help of El Museo del Barrio and the kids from the Renaissance School.
We’d like to take this moment to say thanks to some people who have helped the 78th Street Plaza be so great. First we’d like to thank Council members Danny Dromm and Julissa Ferreras who have supported this project from the start. The 78th Street Plaza would not exist without them and we are extremely grateful.
As we mentioned before, the Neighborhood Plaza Partnership has been a great partner to us, and they’ve also been very busy helping many other plazas too. We love them and so should you! We would like to thank all of our programming partners for this year, the past years and for the future years. We cannot do this alone and we truly value all of the amazing events that have taken place on the Plaza! We’d also like to thank YOU, the Jackson Heights community for all of your support, your financial support and all of the volunteer hours that countless members of our community have put into this ongoing project. If you wish to support the JHGA, you can make a donation to us through our website here - jhgreen.org/support-us If you want to volunteer or help out in other ways, please let us know at [email protected] - we are always looking for more help. Feel free to forward this email to friends, and tell them about us, we’re not shy! Thanks for reading, we look forward to seeing you all next year. Your friends and neighbors at the Jackson Heights Green Alliance. |
Saturday October 18th, 2-4PM
PS 69 77-01 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights.
Come help shape the future of Diversity Plaza with Friends of Diversity Plaza and the DoT.
Greenmarket + Guests are popping up all over the city this season! For one day only, local food businesses set up shop alongside your favorite farmers for a day of delicious prepared foods, live music, and family-friendly activities.
Sunday, October 19th, 10am to 3pm
Jackson Heights Greenmarket
34th Ave at 78th St, Jackson Heights
Queens County Market vendors Lezzetli Ice Cream, Booqoo Beignets, Carlitos Cocina, O Made Granola, East Coast Roast Coffee, Petalouda Bakery, Veda’s Cakes and Catering, Mountain Morsels, and Bittersweet NYC will be on hand serving up delicious prepared foods.
Come for the food and stay for the fun activities, including a pumpkin patch, facepainting and balloon making, photobooth, a Diwali celebration, and more! Jackson Heights resident Reba Linker will be on hand to read her children’s book, Compost Heroes. Live music will be provided by the Blue Vipers and Queen’s very own Singing Cowboy. Stop by the Market Information tent to meet author Andrea Lynn and grab your copy of Queens A Culinary Passport: Exploring Ethnic Cuisine in New York City’s Most Diverse Borough.
Jackson Heights Greenmarket + Guests
Sunday, October 19th, 10am to 3pm
For one day only, local restaurants and food vendors set up shop alongside your favorite farmers for a day of delicious prepared food and live music. Bring the whole family to enjoy a pumpkin patch, a Diwali celebration, face painting, balloon artistry, and a Harvest photobooth. This event is put on in partnership with Queens County Market and us.
