PHOTOS: Lunar New Year celebration marches along 18th Avenue

Another festive Lunar New Year celebration kicked off on Sunday, February 5 — this time along a stretch of Bensonhurst’s bustling 18th Avenue.

The Year of the Rooster was marked at the Chinese American Social Services (CASS) center’s Lunar New Year Parade. The parade — which began at the corner of 65th Street and 18th Avenue at 11 a.m. and marched all the way to 80th Street — included tons of festive fare, appearances by local bigwigs and, of course, a number of traditional Chinese lion dances.

“There were lion dances — [five] colorful festive friends — performed brilliantly by neighborhood martial art experts and their young female and male colleagues,” wrote CASS, a local not-for-profit organization, on Facebook in light of the event, “followed by over 200 community members, families, local merchants, workers, clerks, visitors and neighbors.”

Special guests included Assemblymembers William Colton and Peter Abbate, District Leader Nancy Tong and Councilmembers Mark Treyger and David Greenfield as well as 62nd Precinct commanding officer Captain Anthony Sanseverino and Captain Nelson Chen, the precinct’s executive officer.

Opening remarks were given by Dr. Tim Law, a longtime resident of Bensonhurst and a member of CASS.

“[He] wished everyone a healthy and prosperous Year of the Rooster and [emphasized] the importance of preserving our heritage and culture from generation to generation,” wrote the organization.

CASS, which first opened at 124 Avenue U in September, 2015, was “created to assist Kings County residents by assembling and disseminating social services information, especially to those whose first language is not English,” according to its Facebook page.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.