Bay Ridge’s beloved Summer Stroll on Third returned with gusto on Friday, transforming the southern stretch of Third Avenue into a bustling, car-free corridor of community, culture and commerce.
Neighbors and visitors alike packed the thoroughfare from 82nd Street to Marine Avenue for the first stroll of the season, with open-air dining, live music and sidewalk shopping on both ends of the avenue.
Since its inception in 2012, Summer Stroll on Third has grown into a hallmark of the neighborhood’s summer calendar, drawing thousands to Bay Ridge each year. Organized by the Merchants of Third Avenue in partnership with NYC’s Open Streets program, the event aims to highlight the avenue’s vibrant small businesses and foster a sense of community that stretches far beyond the storefronts.
Throughout the evening, families strolled freely without the worry of traffic, kids danced to live music on the sidewalks, and shoppers popped into boutiques offering special sales for the occasion. Local artists set up displays, bands performed on street corners, and restaurants extended their dining rooms onto the pavement, creating an al fresco atmosphere more reminiscent of a European promenade than a Brooklyn boulevard.
Summer Stroll’s rise to prominence was rapid. In 2014, just two years after its launch, then-president of the Merchants of Third Avenue, Robert Howe, told Brooklyn Paper that the event had already cemented itself as a neighborhood staple.
“It very quickly has become an institution — even though it’s only in its third year,” Howe said at the time. “We have a higher level of merchant participation, and we have a heightened sense in the community looking forward to the Summer Stroll evenings.”
For Howe, the appeal was simple: “You can play in the middle of the street,” he said. “People enjoy taking back their neighborhood.”
More than a decade later, the recipe remains the same — and it’s one that merchants groups across the borough have begun to replicate.
Council Member Justin Brannan recalled that he was working for then-Council Member Vincent Gentile when the idea for the Summer Stroll was first floated — though some residents were initially hesitant, unsure of what closing off the street would really mean for the neighborhood.
“Many years ago, when we first proposed closing Third Avenue to cars on Fridays in the summer, many folks lost their minds,” Brannan said. “But now what was once feared by some has been embraced by all as another great Bay Ridge tradition. So much so that several other neighborhoods have copied our Summer Stroll blueprint. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! But Bay Ridge was the first.”
For many, the Summer Stroll is more than a night out — it’s a celebration of the neighborhood itself.
That sense of belonging is baked into the event’s mission. From the start, organizers have relied on partnerships with small businesses, cultural groups and local volunteers to bring the stroll to life. The result is a grassroots success story: what began as a single evening event now spans multiple nights each summer, with different stretches of the avenue taking turns playing host.
The impact goes beyond community goodwill. Organizers say Summer Stroll provides a significant boost to neighborhood businesses, especially restaurants and retailers who benefit from increased foot traffic and visibility.
Local insurance broker Dan Texeira, who served as president of the Merchants of Third Avenue for three years, estimated that Friday’s Stroll drew one of the largest crowds he’s ever seen.
“As in the last 12 years of the strolls this probably was the largest crowd I have seen, the weather was perfect! More stores contributed than in other years and they had more sponsors than in past years,” Texeira said. “The entire neighborhood was alive and out there.”
“I’m looking forward to the next three,” he added.
Current president of the Merchants of Third Avenue, James Vavas, also praised the success of Friday’s stroll, calling it “a tremendous event that does a great service to the community.”
“The stroll is one of the pillar events we do for the merchants, and it’s capped off with our big Third Avenue Festival at the end of September,” he said. “This first stroll was a tremendous success — we had thousands of people come out all over the avenue, the weather cooperated and made for an even better event. Artists, musicians, merchants on the avenue all came together to create something special.”
Vavas noted the vital role of sponsors — particularly the stroll’s “Platinum Level Sponsors” — in making the event possible.
“We couldn’t do this without them,” he said.
This year’s Platinum Level Sponsors include
The Summer Stroll on Third continues through August, with two more events planned from 68th Street to 82nd Street, and one more from 82nd Street to Marine Avenue. For a full schedule and more information, visit merchantsofthirdave.com.
