Popular Astoria Open Street Gears Up For Another Season

ASTORIA, QUEENS — There's still a chill in the air, but the organizers of a popular Astoria open street are already gearing up for a summer's worth of outdoor fun.

After a winter hibernation, the 31st Avenue Open Street will return this weekend for two afternoons of programming. Every weekend through Dec. 31, the avenue will once again be closed to car traffic between 33rd and 35th streets, creating space for concerts, games, yoga classes and more.

First launched in 2020 along with the rest of the citywide, pandemic-era program, the 31st Avenue Open Street quickly became a neighborhood hit. By last summer, it had become more formalized, winning city approval for a "temporary full closure" that allowed organizers to clear the street of parked cars during its operating hours.

This season's festivities will begin 11:30 a.m. Saturday with a spring litter cleanup, intended to tidy up the street after a winter of disuse. That afternoon, residents can visit the open street to cast ballots in the participatory budgeting program run by City Councilmember Tiffany Caban's office, helping decide how $1 million in government money should be spent in Astoria.

Saturday afternoon will also feature a three-hour performance by Katherine Winston, a singer-songwriter and former American Idol contestant; and a meetup of the Astoria Chess Club. Sunday's events, meanwhile, include jazz from the East Village All Stars and a free book fair from The Rolling Library.

The coming weeks will feature a pop-up by Tikkun BBQ, the charity-minded Astoria pitmaster (April 9); a visit by Bindlestiff Family Cirkus (July 23-24); an Urban Farm Stand (every Saturday starting April 16); and multiple pop-up events by Dave's Lesbian Bar, an envisioned community space that brought hundreds to the open street last summer.

There is reason to think this summer's iteration will be as popular as ever: a recent survey launched by the open street's organizers found that 86 percent of people "love or like" it, though some requested more safety fixes and improvements in diversity and inclusion.

View the 31st Ave. Open Street's full event calendar here, and learn more about volunteering or hosting an event here.

Related coverage:

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• Part Of Astoria's 31st Avenue Will Be Closed To Cars This Summer
• Free Community Cookout Comes To Astoria's Open Street On Saturday