BY Helaina N. Hovitz
Make plans to eat Sunday brunch in the streets come October 24th. The Taste of the Seaport is primarily a fundraiser for the Spruce Street School Parent Teacher Association, but also seeks to draw much needed attention to the rapidly expanding neighborhood.
The South Street Seaport primarily caters to the tourist crowd, but has recently started to morph into a residential community. Following in the footsteps of the Taste of Tribeca, which takes place every spring, Taste of the Seaport will be an annual fall event.
“A lot of attention is pushed towards the West side, since that’s where all of the schools have been up until now,” said Learan Kahanov, co-chair of the Taste of the Seaport Committee. “Now that we have a school on the East side, and more families moving into the Seaport area and the Financial District, we need to call attention to the restaurants and shops that support us.”
The Taste of Front Street, the pilot program for this larger-scale fundraiser, took place back in June. After taking parent and merchant response into consideration, Wendy Juan, treasurer of the Spruce Street School PTA, decided the event should have a more professional look this time around.
“We want to do it even better this time, especially since we’re hoping for at least 750 people to come out,” Juan said.
The Taste of the Seaport event will be slightly more kid friendly than the other events, offering kid friendly treats like apple cider donuts and cotton candy. There will be two activity tables from the Quad, one from Manhattan Youth, and other stations offering face painting and balloon animals. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is set to make an appearance as the guest of honor.
This event will span much farther than the last; General Growth Properties, the event’s main sponsor, has allotted the use of their private property from Front Street to Peck Slip and down to Fulton Street. This means that a stage can be set up for live music, and more local merchants can get involved.
The event is already drawing more attention than its predecessor, and new restaurants in the Seaport and Financial District area are stepping up to support the school and show off their goods. The number of participants is still growing, so expect a vast variety of food and a whole lot of fun.
“It’s more than a taste of the food that the restaurants give out,” said Kahanov. “It’s a taste of our neighborhood.”
Tickets will be available presale for $25 for 5 tastes on Sunday, October 10 and Sunday, October 17 at the Fulton Stall Market on South Street between Beekman and Fulton. Tickets are $30 at the door.
