Alive on 25 organizer ‘behind the gun’ as Riverhead officials debate event’s future

Time is running short to plan this year’s Alive on 25 street festival as Riverhead officials debate whether the popular summer event is still worth the cost and disruption.

Organizer Diane Tucci said Friday, one day after urging the Town Board to move forward, that the window to pull the event together is quickly closing.

“Last year, I organized it in three months, which was really a miracle feat — I’m behind the gun and time right now,” Ms. Tucci told the Riverhead News-Review in a phone interview. “Since I’m an outside contractor, I’m really at the mercy of the Town Board right now to decide how they’d like to proceed, [and] what kind of funds they have to allocate, if any, towards it.”

The uncertainty of the event’s future, modeled after Patchogue’s Alive After Five series, surfaced at a March 26 work session, when Councilwoman Joann Waski said she had received no clear direction on whether it would return this summer.

The Downtown Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association, or BIDMA, first brought the summer street festival to Riverhead in 2016, with the idea to mirror Patchogue’s popular Alive After Five summer series. 

Ms. Tucci, founder of the consulting group Main Street Agency, took over Alive on 25 last year after the BIDMA stepped aside from organizing the event, as the Riverhead News-Review previously reported.

Riverhead Supervisor Jerry Halpin said feedback from business groups suggested the festival is not a significant driver of downtown commerce.

Councilman Kenneth Rothwell pushed back on the idea that the event no longer benefits downtown businesses.

“I think that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Mr. Rothwell said at the March 26 work session. “You have events that bring tourism, bring people into town to show them we’re under construction, and I think that’s great for people to see. Riverhead is rebuilding, and we’re a work in progress.” 

Officials also cited construction impacts, competition from food trucks and an already crowded event calendar as reasons to reconsider the festival.

The expense for police to shut down Main Street — estimated at up to $19,000, according to Councilman Bob Kern — prompted suggestions to shorten the festival footprint and reduce road closures. In the past, the entirety of Peconic Avenue and State Route 25 from Griffing Avenue to Union Avenue have been closed from 3 to 11 p.m.

“The expense for our cops, the expense for everything that we do, it was just a question,” Mr. Halpin said. “Out of pressure come diamonds, and I think this is a great conversation to have.” 

Councilwoman Denise Merrifield said last year’s event boosted local bars and restaurants, pointing to post-festival crowds.

“The expense for our cops, the expense for everything that we do, it was just a question,” Mr. Halpin said. “Out of pressure come diamonds, and I think this is a great conversation to have.” 

Ms. Tucci curated craft vendors, musical acts, food and drink offerings, and other street festival essentials in an effort to create a reimagined Riverhead-centric summer block party and downtown crawl — which was “quite successful,” Ms. Waski said.

At the April 2 work session, Ms. Tucci, along with Amy Fideli of Main Street Agency and Riverhead Ben & Jerry’s owner Steven Siliato, urged the town board to keep the festival going.

“You shouldn’t be taking away the events. This is a great time to bring people down here … to tell the story about what is coming, not to stop them,” Ms. Tucci said. “I think something very important would be to figure out how to have these events, compromise with everybody, bring me to the table … before we get to these conversations, what could or couldn’t be.”

Councilwoman Denise Merrifield said last year’s event boosted local bars and restaurants, pointing to post-festival crowds.

Officials discussed scaling back the event, including shifting it from Fridays to Thursdays to draw customers during slower nights. Alive on 25 was held on two Fridays last year, July 18 and Aug. 1, from 5 to 9 p.m.

“By doing it on a Thursday, that would bring people that necessarily would not be coming to downtown to help the business, especially during the time of construction,” Ms. Waski said. “These businesses are going to need a little bit of an oomph, not just the cardboard boat race day.”

Ms. Tucci said she envisions a more condensed footprint this year to ease traffic and reduce pressure near the Peconic Bay Medical Center circle.

She said food trucks would remain part of the event and emphasized the need for “balance.”

By the end of the April 2 work session, a majority of Town Board appeared open to continuing the festival, though Mr. Halpin said concerns raised by business groups remain. Ms. Tucci said if the community support for Alive on 25 is there, “anything is possible.”

As a new business owner in Riverhead and father of young children, Mr. Siliato said Alive on 25 is an important piece to the downtown’s overall revitalization.

“This is our time, this is Riverhead’s time, this is our community. We should be doing events every day down there, get people filling those seats,” Mr. Siliato said. “We don’t take away now, we add.”