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Parks & Public Spaces

May 2016, Parks Committee

Applications from Madison Square Park Conservancy for the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party to be held on Madison Avenue

WHEREAS, Madison Square Parks Conservancy (the "Applicant") seeks Parks Department and SAPO permits to hold the 14th annual Big Apple Barbeque Block Party (the "Big Apple Barbeque") in and around Madison Square Park, resulting in the partial closure of Madison Avenue between 23rd and 24^th Streets; closure of Madison Avenue between 24^th Streets and 27th Streets; a partial closure of 24^th Street between Park and Madison Avenues; a closure of 25^th and 26^th Streets between Park and Madison Avenues on Saturday, June 11th and Sunday, June 12th, 2016; and

WHEREAS, The event will be held on Saturday, June 11th and Sunday, June 12th between the hours of 11am and 6pm, with set-up beginning on Thursday, June 9th and clean-up following the event to begin on Sunday, June 12^th; and

WHEREAS, Applicant has complied with the Community Board Five Policy on Large Events in and around Madison Square Park; having submitted a written Statement of Compliance acknowledging their understanding and acceptance of said policy; and

WHEREAS, Applicant now owns the intellectual property for the event and the Applicant's proceeds from this event constitute a significant percentage of the annual budgetary needs of Madison Square Park; and

WHEREAS, Applicant recognizes the event's impact on members of the public who live around Madison Square Park as well as businesses around the Park and has reduced the number of pit masters from 17 to no more than 15 and as few as 13; and

WHEREAS, The Applicant recognizes that the service of alcohol in the seating area on 25^th Street in 2015 had been prohibited and constituted a violation of its stipulations with Community Board Five and has removed the 25^th Street seating area present last year, replacing it with a non-service commissary, and allowing alcohol to be served and consumed only in Madison Square Park in a North and South Beverage Area, the perimeters of which will be monitored and secured by a security team; and

WHEREAS, Applicant has provided a detailed plan and layout of the event including sanitation, security, and post-event clean-up, with several improvements from prior events; and

WHEREAS, Applicant has mentioned that, as they are now the owners of the event, they are beginning to seriously contemplate licensing the Big Apple Barbeque to other locations as well as nationwide; and

WHEREAS, The Applicant has been put on notice that the service of alcohol in the seating area on 25^th Street in 2015 in violation of SAPO regulation and law, has resulted in heightened scrutiny for this year's event, with the explicit understanding that failure to fully comply this year with Community Board Five's Policy on Madison Square Park Large Events will result in an automatic denial of their event in 2017, as per Community Board Five's and SAPO's policies not to support any event after material non-compliance for two consecutive years; therefore be it

RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the applications from Madison Square Park Conservancy for the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party to be held on Madison Avenue between 23^rd and 27^th Streets, 26^th Street between 5^th Avenue and Park Avenue, and inside Madison Square Park on Saturday, June 11^th and Sunday, June 12^th, 2016; and be it further

RESOLVED, Community Board Five questions again the appropriateness of these large events and their detrimental impact on the Flatiron neighborhood, including the impact on Madison Square Park on two weekend days in seasonal months of high park usage; and we implore Applicant to reconsider its location.