Thousands of residents from Great Neck and beyond filled Middle Neck Road, Bond Street and Grave Avenue for the 22nd Annual Great Neck AutoFest and Street Festival on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Featuring over 100 cars displayed along Middle Neck Road and various attractions and demonstrations for family enjoyment, the festival brought new and existing customers to the village for a boom in local business.
Following a dark and rainy Saturday that saw two tornados in New York City, the AutoFest was held on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and served as a opportunity to “give back to the community and support our local merchants,” said Jay Corn, Village of Great Neck Plaza Business Improvement District vice president and chairman of the street festival.
Corn said past festivals have seen as high as 30,000 people, and this year was no different.
“There is a lot of planning that goes into our festival, and its important that we have a healthy downtown area,” he said.
Among the many in attendance were Village of Great Neck Plaza Jean Celender and Village of Great Neck Mayor
Ralph Kreitzman, who both shared their praise for the festival.
“It’s a great way to say thank you to our village. Everyone can come out as a community and show their support for the downtown area,” said Celender, whose village helped organize the event.
“This is a wonderful thing for Great Neck residents and our local businesses…just to be able to come out here on this beautiful day is terrific,” Kreitzman said.
President of the Chamber of Commerce Hooshang Nematzadeh attended the AutoFest as well, and acknowledged the effect is has on Great Neck every year:
“It’s fabulous what this AutoFest does, it promotes business in the Village and brings everyone together,” he said.
Some of the biggest attractions were a 1937 Chrysler Imperial town car and 1909 Alco-6 Racer, both owned by Town of North Hempstead’s official historian, Howard Kroplick.
Car enthusiast James Spina and his son Gram were just two of the many that were excited by the two automobiles. Residents of Floral Park, the Spinas also shared their passion for Long Island Motor Parkway, otherwise known as Vanderbilt Parkway, which was closed in 1938.
“My son (Gram) has a shrine in our backyard devoted to the history of Vanderbilt Parkway,” James Spina said. “He even gets his friends involved in the history of it, they have discussions about it, it’s all very interesting.”
Spina and Kroplick held a lively discussion, in which Kroplick referred to Vanderbilt Parkway as: “The first road built for automobiles…it should certainly be preserved.”
Kroplick sat in the Alco-6 racer with Gram and turned on the roaring “T” head engine, drawing a crowd to gaze at its power. Only a thousand Alco cars and trucks were built, four of them being race cars. Today, 11 of them still exist (nine cars, one race car and one truck).
The Chrysler Imperial town car was presented at the AutoFest as a “one of one” seven passenger limousine that was custom built by LeBaron for Della Chrysler, wife of Walter P. Chrysler. Over 19 feet in length, it was held in storage at the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport, and finally purchsed by Kroplick at an auction in January.
Another car collector at the AutoFest was Robert Midura, whose collection included a 1989 560 EL and a 1985 300 CD Coupe Diesel. The 560 EL is “the last handmade car made by Mercedes Benz,” according to Midura.
“It’s a true sports car,” he said.
The 300 CD Coupe Diesel runs on waste vegetable oil from a Chinese restaurant, said Midura, who referred to it as “the greenest car at this entire AutoFest.”
John Hotetz, owner of a 1966 Pontiac GTO, was also at the AutoFest, displaying various awards and newspaper articles recognizing the car in previous years.
Stuffed animal tigers were also displayed, as the tiger has been a mascot for the car dating back to the 1960s.
Purchasing the car in 1990, Hotetz had the car restored and has won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards in multiple car shows in the 1990s. It has been on the cover of ‘High Performance Pontiac Magazine’ in December 1992, and featured in ‘GTO Enthusiast Magazine’ and ‘Hagerty Collector Car Magazine’ in the Fall of 2007.
A 1952 Chevy Taxicab was displayed by owner and Great Neck resident Howard Brookstein, who was there with his wife Sharon and family. Purchased 15 years ago, Brookstein described it as: “probably the last yellow cab from the 1950s on the road today.” Author of the book ‘The Coney Island Collector,” Brookstein had the famous Steeplechase Funny Face displayed in the back of the car. Pointing out a humorous bit of information about the car, Brookstein noted that the license plate says “off-duty.”
Brookstein also had a 1969 Chevelle Super Sport 396 Numbers Matching Convertible, which was purchased 12 years ago.
“This is a numbers matching car because it is exactly how it was when it came out of the factory,” explained Brookstein. “It’s the ultimate muscle car.”
While a majority of those in attendance marveled over the cars on display, many stores along the sectioned off area received a high volume of customers.
Oil Licious, a store that sells more than 50 different extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegars worldwide, just so happened to have the AutoFest around the corner after following their opening on Grace Avenue the week before.
Oil Licious owners Charles Romoff and Betty Farber said they expected at least 300-400 customers to walk through the store by the end of the day.
Marcari Salo owners Beatrice and Gabriella Marcarian set up tables outside with accessories, jewelry, hair clips, makeup and other products they sell.
By mid-day, Beatrice Marcrian said more than 100 people have been through the store, which recently moved from its home of 41 years on Grace Avenue to a larger location across the street. Originally Moon River Beauty Salon, Gabriella Marcrian said: “People are impressed with our new location, its twice as big.”
La Rotonda Italian Restaurant and Brick Oven Pizza on Bond Street had a large table outside the restaurant with a large menu for everyone to enjoy. Participating every year, owner Luigi Muto expected over 400 people to come by his restaurant. “It’s a great thing for the Village, and all businesses here,” said Muto.
Great Neck Wine & Spirits on North Station Plaza also had its doors open, where owners Joe and Pam Abikaram praised the AutoFest as “an awesome thing for the village to have every year.” The Abikaram’s have owned and operated their store for almost 20 years.
A big hit among the crowd was Karaoke singing, which was provided by Sal Vivo and her partner Susan Coumeri. Singing classics such as “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli and recent hits like “Firework” by Katy Perry, Vivo and Coumeri got everyone up and going from beginning to end.
One of the main attractions for kids was the petting zoo and horse rides provided by the Islip-based company Rocking Horse Farms. Owner Michele Cordingley has participated in the street festival every year, bringing a variety of farm animals for the kids to pet and feed in their little barn area.
“It’s a great thing for the kids to enjoy, and this festival is wonderful for Great Neck,” said Cordingley.
Other kids attractions included inflated jumping castles, inflated rock climbing, and slides that featured famous characters such as Spiderman. Games were also set up to win prizes that ranged from small to extra large stuffed animals. Face painting was also a big attraction, as kids could be seen throughout the street fair with designs on their arms and faces. Dance performances were also held by Katya’s School of Dance located on Middle Neck Road.
Demonstrations were also held by Tiger Schulmann’s Karate and the Great Neck Vigilant Engine & Hook & Ladder Co. Inc. Headed by Joshu George Heurtelou, 16 kids participated in the karate demonstration. Having been the first year to put on a demonstration at the street fair, Heurtelou explained that the focus was “discipline, concentration and teamwork.” Heurtelou also said that they plan to participate next year, where a woman’s self-defense demonstration will be held.
Great Neck Vigilant Engine & Hook & Ladder Co. Inc held various demonstrations to educate Great Neck residents about fire prevention. One of their demonstrations was simulating a propane tank emergency.
“We do something every year, in the past we have simulated a small fire and an auto accident,” said Assistant Chief Josh Forst.
EMS Officer Joseph Oginski was one of the firefighters to participate in the demonstration, which drew a large crowd. Two teams had fire hoses spraying in the air on-top of one firefighter that slowly approached the propane tank to disable it.
Live performances were held by The Meade Brothers, led by Richard and Gregory Meade, and D.A.M.G.D, a rock cover band based out of Rockland, NY.
Both Richard and Gregory Meade grew up in Great Neck, and before the band started their first song of the day, band member John Raguso announced that his son was returning to Afghanistan for his fourth tour of duty.
Receiving a large round of applause, the Meade Brothers are active with charity work, having given a generous donation last year to the 9/11 Families Association for the 10th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. “Everyone loves the Meade Brothers,” said Corn. “We always get requests for them to come back the following year, and we love having them.”
D.A.M.G.D performed a variety of favorites such as “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath, “All The Small Things” by Blink 182 and “My Hero” by Foo Fighters, which singer Pat Grace dedicated to the victims of 9/11, firefighters and those who are serving overseas.
“Ordinary people, they are the heroes,” Grace said to the audience.
