The Village of Great Neck Plaza Business Improvement District’s 29th Annual Street Fair and Autofest drew a crowd of thousands on Sunday, as fair-goers listened to live music, played carnival games and dined from street vendors under a clear blue sky.
“It’s great. It’s a beautiful day,” Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender said, as she stood near a bandstand at the corner of Middle Neck Road and Grace Avenue. “What’s not to like about today? I love it.”
Music played from three stages placed along Middle Neck Road and Bond Street, which were closed to pedestrian traffic. Children lined up for carnival rides and hand-fed goats and lambs at a petting zoo set up near the Long Island Rail Road Station, and contestants belted out karaoke at the final round of the village’s Great Neck Plaza Idol Karaoke Competition.
The fair also featured rows of vintage cars – Ferraris, Cadillacs, Corvettes and one 1926 Stutz Speedster – all buffed to a shine.
“We have some magnificent cars,” Great Neck Plaza Business Improvement District Vice President Jay Corn said. “Beautiful examples of American and foreign automotive history.”
The 1926 Stutz, custom built for Corneilus Vanderbilt III, was a centerpiece of the autofest and was provided by Huntington businessman Steven Gittelman, a Vanderbilt enthusiast who has written four books on the family.
All the car festival registration fees will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides services to injured veterans, Corn said.
Corn said the day’s festivities were geared to the BID’s goal of boosting Great Neck’s economy – a goal that he said was met.
“It’s a great day. We seem to be getting people from outside of Great Neck,” Corn said. “That’s the whole name of the game. To bring people into town, to see our town, to look in the windows and see something they may come back and want to buy.”
The fair was also a showcase for local politicians seeking support ahead of November’s elections.
Democrats and Republicans set up tables near the train station, holding signs promoting their slates of candidates.
Public officials including Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck), Nassau County Legislator Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn,) Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Lee Seeman, Town Councilwoman Dina DeGiorgio, Judge Erica Prager, candidate for judge Liz Berney all made appearances at the event, and Celender said Democratic County Executive candidate Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) also made a brief campaign stop at the fair.
Among the candidates greeting potential voters was Town Clerk Leslie Gross. Gross, who has served as a Democrat but was not renominated by the party and is now running for re-election on the Republican line against Wink.
“This is my hometown. I grew up in Great Neck,” Gross said. “It’s great to be back in my old home town – a lot of people that I know, bumping into, that I haven’t seen in a long time.”
“It’s a great thing to meet friends and family and be back here,” Gross added.
