The Hester Street Fair came to the end of its 10-year lease some time ago and now its landlord, the Seward Park Co-op, has decided to go with a different operator in the space alongside Seward Park.
The operators of the fair are fighting back with an online petition that has more than 4,000 e-signatures. They write:
Exactly four weeks before our scheduled Season 12 opening on April 10th, we received an email stating the board (of the Seward Park Co-op) wants to consider a different operator, and not allow us to proceed with the programming. While the board has no legal obligation to the Hester Street Fair, we still urge them to allow us, our vendors, and partners to finish what we started, to continue the fair for this season, and give us the time to transition to a new location.
Curbed reported:
The Hester Street Fair had a ten-year license agreement that ended last year. Over that period, and perhaps owing to the fair’s very success, the co-op has received numerous proposals from other street-fair operators, and as the agreement with Hester Street lapsed, the board decided to examine other options. “Following meetings, research, presentations and interviews with several prospective operators, the board has decided to continue and reinvigorate the outdoor market at Hester Street with a different operator, whom we feel will bring fresh ideas, an impressive track-record, and substantial operational and marketing experience, to the space,” Wei-Li Tjong, the board president, told Curbed. The co-op plans to announce the new operator soon.
