Fun in the sun

Although clouds shed an occasional shadow over this year’s fifth annual Urban Enterprise Zone festival, thousands turned out.
Terrence Malloy, director of the Bayonne UEZ, said as many as 5,000 people came to join in the festivities held in the municipal parking lot on Del Monte Drive.
The event is among a series of public activities designed to draw people into the central shopping district. UEZs are special state-designated business districts that can charge a lower sales tax and use the money for upkeep.

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“This year, we added more and larger rides, and it seems to be even better than last year.” – Terrence Malloy
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“For the first three years, we held it in September, but the weather was always an issue,” Malloy said. “So we switched it to May. Last year, it was very successful. This year, we added more and larger rides, and it seems to be even better than last year.”
The big worry was over weather, since the week leading up to the annual event had seen heavy downpours. But the weather held out and thousands flocked to the site.
Malloy said the idea of the festival is to attract people to the business district, and this seemed to work as families came with children to enjoy the rides and later went off to eat or shop along Broadway.
New rides – such as the full sized space shuttle – kept kids lined up from noon to the closing of the festival after 6 p.m.
Look-a-like performers imitating works of Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Cher and Rod Stewart entertained senior citizens and others under the big tent.
A clown gave out free balloons, with thousands being handed out shortly after the festival opened, Malloy said.
Kids also flocked to various other attractions, such as the face panting, temporary tattoos and free popcorn and cotton candy station.
The festival was funded by the Bayonne Urban Enterprise Zone, a program enacted by state legislation in 1983 with the idea of stimulating economic activity and reducing unemployment in areas within the boundaries of each zone. The establishment of these zones helps provide incentives for businesses to come to these communities and occupy existing facilities or build new ones. Bayonne is one of the state’s newest Urban Enterprise Zones, and was first designated on Sept. 12, 2002.
Since its inception, over 213 businesses have registered in the Bayonne Urban Enterprise Zone program. The Urban Enterprise Zone is an area designated by the State UEZ Authority to revitalize critical shopping districts and industrial centers.
Its mission is to create jobs, bring new business prosperity, and raise the quality of life in the community.