Get your own passport to Sunset Park

You might be from Sunset Park if you. . . want to get your own copy of the Sunset Park Passport.

The Sunset Park Passport is Sunset Parkers’ very own version of a not-for-tourists guide to the neighborhood. Inspired by the comments and nostalgic conversations shared on the Facebook page known as “Sunset Parker,” the mock ‘passport’ gives residents old and new a checklist to see just how many Sunset Park experiences they have had or have yet to achieve.

According to the list, if you have attended three block parties in one day, attended a church that has services in at least two languages, know which church has an egg-shaped steeple, shopped in a supermarket that was once a movie theater, thrown a gutter ball at Melody Lanes, or any one of the other 20 items listed, then you might be from Sunset Park.

Also in the mock passport is a list of ‘documentation,” from which two are required to qualify for Sunset Park citizenship. These include being born at Lutheran Medical Center/Norwegian Hospital or Maimonides Hospital/United Zion Israel; attending one of several local schools; having childhood friends of at least three different ethnicities; sitting on a stoop and doing nothing; fishing on the 58th Street Pier; or riding a trolley, elevated train or bus on Fifth Avenue.

The wonderful thing about Sunset Park is that it “is not a melting pot,” said Tony Giordano, creator of the three-month-old Sunset Parker Facebook page and former Community Board 7 member, and founded the Sunset Park Parade of Flags.

“We are a tossed salad,” Giordano, an almost life-long Sunset Parker, explained. “We are delicious together, but if you pick around you can taste tomatoes, lettuce or onions. We don’t lose our flavor, but we blend together to create a distinct community of New York City.”

That uniqueness is why current and former residents continue to think about the neighborhood fondly, added Renee Giordano, executive director of the Sunset Park Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (SPBID), which created, printed and is distributing the 5.5-inch by 4.25-inch booklet, which comes in a variety of bright colors.

“We’re always looking for things to bring the neighborhood together, so we offered to make copies and will be giving them out at events,” said Renee, who is married to Giordano. “We’ve made several hundred and anticipate that through the years, there will probably be several thousand” circulating.

Future editions of the ‘passport’ may also be in the making, in order to accommodate feedback that has already been coming in that certain memories have not been listed in the first edition.

As a bonus, there is also a brief summary of Sunset Park’s history, from the end of the last Ice Age to recent changing immigration and emigration patterns.

To get your own copy of the Sunset Park Passport, stop by the SPBID’s Sidewalk Sales weekend series, which begins this Saturday, April 12-13, or arrange to visit the SPBID office by calling 718-439-7767.

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