Downtown Oyster Bay to Receive a Makeover on June 12-13

Oyster Bay, New York – Downtown Oyster Bay has been selected as the site for a 48-hour make-over. DoTank:Brooklyn is a well-regarded national consortium of planners, designers, and architects based in New York City. They will be providing their services for free over a two-day period to help transform a portion of Audrey Avenue Extension in downtown Oyster Bay.

Local leaders and community members will join them to participate in a short-term planning exercise on June 12-13, 2010. Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto has been very accommodating of the event, providing full support of the Town for these efforts. Improvements being made during these 48 hours will build support for plans and actions over the next 48 months, that will ultimately help to promote sustainable design and lasting change over the next 48 years.



Oyster Bay Main Street Association President Ellen Roché, speaking of the event, said “This highly visible high-impact event will provide the Oyster Bay community an opportunity to actively get involved in revitalization efforts. We hope this event will serve as a catalyst attracting interest and attention that will in turn help to attract resources for future improvements.”

Michele Browner, President of the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce which is helping to lead the event, said “This is about economic revitalization of the Hamlet, and the whole community coming together to make Oyster Bay an attractive place to live, work, do business, and play.”

A growing list of participants and groups are represented in the event, including:

• The Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce is involved in planning and many Chamber members will be represented each of the two days.
• The Oyster Bay Railroad Museum Preview Center at 100 Audrey Ave and the historic Long Island Rail Road Station will be open both Saturday and Sunday.
• A Railroad Museum Café will be just south of the station, with food and drinks offered by V’s Hot and Sweet each of the two days.
• Bliss Studios will offer a yoga class at 9:30am on Saturday, a ballroom dancing class at 6:30pm on Saturday, and a Zumba class 9:30am on Sunday, at 101 Audrey Ave.
• A Healthy U will have ice cream and drinks on sale, with seating outside their store at 98 Audrey Ave.
• Children’s art work from Not Just Art will be on display in a pop-up café also located at 101 Audrey Ave.
• The Oyster Bay pop-up store at 91 Audrey Ave will feature gifts and merchandise from area historic sites and Oyster Bay organizations including Buckingham Variety Store, Raynham Hall Museum, Friends of the Bay, the Theodore Roosevelt Association, the Hispanic Cultural Center and numerous others.
• Teaching Studios of Art will be offering a free art class at 115 Audrey Ave on Saturday from 3-5pm.
• Renaissance Property Associates has graciously made several of their buildings in the area available for pop-up stores, workshop space, and a café.
• For a complete and up-to-date listing of events, please visit www.oysterbaymainstreet.org.

Members of the public are invited to participate in activities to be held throughout the weekend.

• A Farmer’s Market with produce, prepared food, and numerous other vendors, will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 2pm, in the parking lot north of Town Hall West.
• Pinata making workshops will be held at 11am and 1pm on Saturday and Sunday at the Bandstand between Town Hall and the U.S. Post Office.
• A Community Planning Workshop will be held on June 12, from 1-3pm at 101 Audrey Ave, where community members and planners will talk about future changes in the next 48 months to 48 years.
• An Outdoor Movie will take place Saturday, June 12, at 8pm in the pop-up park beside the historic Oyster Bay Long Island Rail Road Station at the end of Audrey Ave.
• A Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay Tour will start at 91 Audrey Ave on Sunday at 2pm.
• A Guided Bike Ride will take place Sunday, at 3pm, and leave from the Railroad Museum Plaza.
• Live music, sidewalk chalk drawings, board games, a water feature, sandboxes, and other activities will provide fun and excitement for families and people of all ages.

The Oyster Bay Main Street Association, which is helping to organize the event, is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to enhancing and promoting an attractive and thriving downtown, while maintaining its historic integrity.

For more information, or if you or your business or organization want to participate in the Oyster Bay 48x48x48 event, please call (516) 922-6982 or send an e-mail to http://www.oysterbaymainstreet.org/contact.php.

Main Street and Partners Planning to Transform Audrey Avenue Extension, June 12-13

Audrey Avenue Extension to be transformed June 12-13 during 48x48x48

The Oyster Bay Main Street Association is pleased to announce that downtown Oyster Bay has been selected as the site for a downtown improvement project. DoTank:Brooklyn is a well-regarded national consortium of planners, designers, and architects whose members come from the Project for Public Spaces, Street Plans Collaborative, and other NYC-based planning, design, and architecture firms. They will be providing their services for free over a two-day period to help transform a portion of Audrey Avenue Extension in downtown Oyster Bay.

This group will work with local leaders and individuals to lead a short-term planning exercise on June 12-13, 2010. Supervisor John Venditto has been very accommodating of the initiative providing full support from the Town of Oyster Bay for these efforts. Improvements made during these 48 hours will help to build support for plans and actions over the next 48 months, that will ultimately help to bring sustainable design and lasting improvements for the next 48 years.

Main Street President Ellen Roché speaking of the event said, “This highly visible high-impact event will provide the Oyster Bay community an opportunity to actively get involved in revitalization efforts. We hope this event will serve as a catalyst attracting interest and attention that will in turn help to attract resources for future improvements.”

Some activities and events being planned are the creation of a “pop-up park” on Railroad Avenue, demonstrating the potential of a future Railroad Plaza project. A farmer’s market will be created in Municipal Lot #0-8 on Audrey Avenue just north of Town Hall West. Special workshops, classes, demonstrations, and events will be held for people of all ages. These activities will be especially focused on how, by working together, we can improve downtown Oyster Bay and other places like it.

To donate, volunteer, or find more info about participating, please call 516-922-6982 or send us a message today!

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Oyster Bay Sundown Concerts on First Thursdays at Renaissance Plaza

Thank you for everyone who came out and helped to make our first Oyster Bay Sundown concert at Teaching Studios of Art such a success. Over a hundred people came out for an evening of socializing, entertainment, food and wine (compliments of Fiddleheads).

June 3rd will showcase Tom Licameli, a guitarist and songwriter of the Indie rock band “Knockout Drops” from New York City, and producer of their 2005 rock n’ roll theatre show Escape from Bellevue. For Oyster Bay, Tom will deliver a solo acoustic act of rock n’ roll classics, Beatles favorites, the Who, the Byrds, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Radiohead, and other contemporary greats. The June 3rd, July 1st, and August 5th concerts will take place at Renaissance Plaza, in the courtyard on Audrey Avenue behind Chrison & Bellina at 24 Audrey Avenue. In case of rain, the music will set up at Atelier/Fine Arts, 9 East Main Street. Bring along a chair and supper if desired.

You may RSVP for this event on our Facebook fan page.

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TR and the Trail opens at TRA Gallery June 3

TR and the Trail continues the series of art exhibitions featured in TRA Gallery, the beautiful gallery space inside the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s headquarters at 20 Audrey Avenue in Oyster Bay. The upcoming exhibition, opening 3 June in conjunction with Sundown Oyster Bay and the First Thursdays Artwalk, presents artists from Connecticut and Pound Ridge, New York, as well as prominent Long Island artists.

Exhibiting artists include Sandra Benny, whose color pencil drawings evoke the delicacy and detail of flowers and feathers; James Foote, painter and Theodore Roosevelt interpreter; Hanneke Goedkoop, a master printer who finds inspiration in her Dutch heritage; Kendall Klingbeil, a painter regularly featured in the New York Times; Puneeta Mittal, a ceramicist whose Of the Earth series reminds us of the "preciousness of the everlasting material, clay, used to inform and educate us;” Franklin Hill Perrell, former chief curator of the Nassau County Museum of Art and longtime practicing painter; and Elizabeth Roosevelt, whose photographs range in subject from Oyster Bay to the farthest reaches of the globe.

TRA Gallery is committed to exhibiting the work of contemporary artists who interpret the passions of Theodore Roosevelt’s many-sided life. TR and the Trail evokes the power of nature’s trails to rejuvenate the soul and to provide, as they did for Roosevelt, a source of recreation, contemplation, and solace.

TR and the Trail will open with a gallery reception at TRA Gallery, 20 Audrey Avenue, Oyster Bay, NY, on Thursday June 3, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. All proceeds from the sale of art will benefit the Theodore Roosevelt Association and its many charitable enterprises. For further information call 516-921-6319 or visit http://www.curatorialservices.com/

Main Street and DoTank:Brooklyn Join Forces to Transform Audrey Avenue Extension, June 12-13, 2010

Audrey Avenue Extension just north of the bandstand, Post Office, and Town Hall that we will be focusing on

The Oyster Bay Main Street Association is pleased to announce that downtown Oyster Bay has been selected as the site for a downtown improvement project. DoTank:Brooklyn is a well-regarded national consortium of planners, designers, and architects whose members come from the Project for Public Spaces, Street Plans Collaborative, and other NYC-based planning, design, and architecture firms. They will be providing their services for free over a two-day period to help transform a portion of Audrey Avenue Extension in downtown Oyster Bay.

This group will work with local leaders and individuals to lead a short-term planning exercise on June 12-13, 2010. Supervisor John Venditto has been very accommodating of the initiative providing full support from the Town of Oyster Bay for these efforts. Improvements made during these 48 hours will help to build support for plans and actions over the next 48 months, that will ultimately help to bring sustainable design and lasting improvements for the next 48 years.

Main Street President Ellen Roché speaking of the event said, “This highly visible high-impact event will provide the Oyster Bay community an opportunity to actively get involved in revitalization efforts. We hope this event will serve as a catalyst attracting interest and attention that will in turn help to attract resources for future improvements.”

Some activities and events being planned are the creation of a “pop-up park” on Railroad Avenue, demonstrating the potential of a future Railroad Plaza project. A farmer’s market will be created in Municipal Lot #0-8 on Audrey Avenue just north of Town Hall West. Special workshops, classes, demonstrations, and events will be held for people of all ages. These activities will be especially focused on how, by working together, we can improve downtown Oyster Bay and other places like it.

The process will be videotaped and the results submitted to the Build a Better Burb competition held by the Long Island Index. Build a Better Burb is an ideas competition to retrofit Long Island downtown areas.

Over the past decade the Oyster Bay Main Street Association has attracted over $5 million of public and private investment, resulting in over 40 façade and sign improvements, public space improvements, and better marketing of area historic sites, businesses, and attractions.

Oyster Bay Main Street Association (OBMSA) is dedicated to enhancing and promoting an attractive and thriving downtown, while maintaining its historic integrity. We are a 501 (c) 3 Non-Profit using the national Main Street™ Approach to downtown revitalization. For any questions or to get involved in the 48x48x48 event, please visit http://www.oysterbaymainstreet.org/ or call (516) 922-6982.