Exclusive | NYC holiday party was at risk of being canceled for first time in 20 years thanks to government incompetence: organizer
A Queens neighborhood holiday party attended by hundreds of New Yorkers annually came at risk of being canceled for the first time in its 20-year history because of government inefficiency, organizers claimed.The Sunnyside Holiday Lighting Ceremony was still waiting for approvals from the city Street Activity Permit Office (SAPO) just a week before the planned Nov.20 extravaganza — despite historically receiving the OK at least a month in advance, planner Dirk McCall de Palomá said.“I was getting ready to call everybody on Monday and say the event’s not happening,” McCall de Palomá, the executive director of the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District, which hosts the annual event, told The Post.“I have five groups of youth who are performing at the event … I don’t want the parents to show up and the event’s not happening,” he said Friday.
“I was going to tell them ‘If I can find an indoor space, we’ll go ahead and try to do it as an indoor space’ — but I didn’t get any notifications.”Hours after The Post contacted City Hall about the permit delay Friday, a rep reached out to say they’d finally been approved.McCall de Palomá said he had submitted the application on Oct.16, the same way he does every year: more than five weeks before the bash that takes over half of a city block running along Lowery Plaza in Sunnyside.Each year, hundreds of locals swarm the hub to share hot cocoa, watch holiday performances and count down to the illumination of the “Welcome to Sunnyside” banners that stretch across Queens Boulevard.McCall de Palomá said he hung the holiday lights, as well as secured a sound team, barricades and a police presence in anticipation of obtaining the permit in time — but was still waiting on SAPO with just a week to spare before the party.“It’s just so crazy,” McCall de Palomá told The Post on Thursday morning.
“There’s no way to actually get the answers.”The unexplained delay was sending ...