CB5 Tells Big Apple BBQ to Get Off Its Yard
Sarah DiGregorio No Big Bob Gibson's pulled pork shoulder for you.
Now that the flames of controversy surrounding the San Gennaro Festival have died down, they've been ignited by another open-air festival of hedonistic consumption, the Big Apple BBQ Block Party.
Per DNAinfo, the event, which the Union Square Hospitality Group has held in Madison Square Park for the past eight years, has come under attack from certain members of Community Board 5. The board voted 8-5 in favor of expelling the festival from the park, arguing that it's gotten too big for the park and damages the greenery.
The Madison Square Park Conservancy is itself a supporter of the festival, thanks in part to USHG's largesse: It last year donated $135,000 to the group, and paid for its own professional cleaners. But the community board, which recently voted to bar five ethnic celebrations from taking place in the park, is unmoved. Expect plenty of shouting and hair-pulling at the board's next hearing, which takes place March 10.
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