LIC Festival Brings A Week Of Events, Deals To The Neighborhood

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — In celebration of the city’s reopening this month, an annual springtime street fair in Long Island City has been reimagined into a week-long summertime event.

LIC Springs!, a single-day festival on Vernon Avenue that’s showcased the neighborhood’s local eateries and businesses for the past seven years, has been reimagined into LIC Springs to Summer!, a neighborhood-wide event taking place the week of June 14th.

Like the original street fair, LIC Springs to Summer! is a series of events, performances, and business promotions around the neighborhood, featuring deals from 107 participating local businesses and organizations, volunteer opportunities, and a host of events — from family classes to Juneteenth-themed programming on June 19th.

Elizabeth Lusskin, President of LIC Partnership, which hosts the event, said that the “cross-section of businesses” participating in this year’s event reflect “the diverse offerings LIC serves up every day to our diverse community,” adding that the new week-long format “encourages participants to explore all parts of Long Island City.”

Since the event is taking place across the entire neighborhood, businesses from all corners of Long Island City have been able to participate, which is especially exciting for Roni Mazumdar, owner of Adda Indian Canteen, an eatery located near Sunnyside.

“This is the first year that the Springs festival has transitioned to one that takes place all throughout LIC and as a business located on the Sunnyside border of the community we couldn’t be more pleased to take part,” he said, adding that anyone who purchases an entree at his restaurant gets a complimentary vegetable samosa — one of the many deals that’s part of the week-long event.

Showcasing the arts — which LIC is known for — is another cornerstone of the festival, and many of the neighborhood’s museums and galleries are participating, including Flux Factory, a gallery that promotes emerging artists.

We're excited to invite people into our gallery safely as New York city begins to reopen, and share the new and innovative work of emerging artists,” said Maya Suess, managing director of Flux Factory.

City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents LIC’s 26th City Council District, has supported the event since its inception, and this year is no different.
“I’m so proud to have sponsored this event which brings residents, customers, businesses and visitors together to celebrate all that there is to do in LIC,” he said, describing the neighborhood as a “dynamic, thriving, and growing community that is back in business.”

In order to keep track of all of the promotional offerings and events, LIC Partnership created a virtual passport, which outlines a day-by-day schedule of events, and includes a list of all the deals offered from participating businesses.

You can view, and print, the virtual passport online, or pick it up in-person from one of these LIC Partnership booths or participating businesses.