Merchants in Throggs Neck are gearing up for one of their signature events on Saturday, June 4.
The Throggs Neck Merchants Association will once again host its annual sidewalk fair with 60 attractions, promotions and giveaways scheduled from Waterbury to Miles avenues, according to organizers.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
TNMA president Steve Kaufman said that the event will feature a rock-climbing wall for children, live entertainment and a trolley that attendees could flag down if they need a ride anywhere along the event route.
It will also feature presentations from the Bronx Children’s Museum, as well historical buses, face painting, pet adoption and an FDNY Smokehouse.
“It is great for the community to come out, meet their merchants, look how beautiful the community is, and enjoy a nice day without having to travel anywhere,” said Kaufman, adding “It enhances our community and gives us a sense of connectedness…between the people living in the community and the merchants.”
The event has been going on for years, but grows larger as time has gone by, he said.
“We want people to enjoy themselves, and to patronize the merchants,” said Kaufman, adding “Our goal is to keep people in the Bronx, and not have them running to the suburbs to buy things, while giving them something nice to do during this day.”
Geri Colon, a volunteer member of the TNMA Sidewalk Fair Committee, said that the event serves as a time for families to enjoy their own community and also a promotional day for the merchants who will be placing tables on the sidewalk and offering discounted merchandise, giveaways and information.
“It is a day of giving back to the community, and a day of free promotion for the merchants,” she said, adding that the event draws at least a thousand attendees every year.
Central to the sidewalk fair will be the parking lot of Rite Aid at 3590 East Tremont Avenue, which will be at home for the bandstand and rock-climbing wall, as well as several vendors from Bronx Council on the Arts who will be selling hand crafted items there and elsewhere along the route, said Colon.
“These items from the vendors, 99.9% are things that the merchants do not sell themselves in their stores,” she said, adding that they include hand-crafted knitted items, artworks and handcrafted jewelry.”
Some merchants have been known to give away food like ice-cream, hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy, said Colon.
“We pray for nice weather,” said Kaufman. “The merchant’s association is a wonderful organization with a lot of volunteers. We hope to get more volunteers from local schools.”
