#Newsflash | The Love Where You Live Festival Is in Queens on June 25

Here’s a great chance to show your love…for other people, Queens, the environment, and even the arts.

Dozens of volunteers will unite on the Long Island City Waterfront as part of The Blue Bus Project’s Love Where You Live Clean-Up Festival on Saturday, June 25, from 10 am to 5 pm.

The fun will begin at Hallett’s Cove Beach (Vernon Boulevard and 31st Avenue) with a site-specific live performance by the Kin to the Cove project. Then, volunteers will beautify the beach before heading to Rainey Park (Vernon Boulevard and 34th Avenue), Queensbridge Park (Vernon Boulevard and 41st Avenue), and Hunters Point South Park (Center Boulevard and 51st Avenue) to remove litter. Afterward, they’ll meet at the Blue Bus in Culture Lab LIC’s parking lot for a celebration with music and refreshments.

Sounds like a lot of work, but it’s also a chance to do some good, meet local leaders, and learn about Blue Bus, a nonprofit that facilitates art events in underserved communities throughout NYC, but especially in Queens.

Italy-born multi-media artist Annalisa Iadicicco founded Blue Bus in 2016 to use art to enact social change. Since its inception, she has implemented more than 75 projects in public spaces, while also collaborating with countless social service agencies.

Most recently on June 15, Blue Bus unveiled the Bridging Communities Mural (below) on Fifth Street between 46th Avenue and 46th Road. Financed by the Citizens Committee for New York City, Queens Council on the Arts, and Plaxall, the mural celebrates the cultures and residents of Queensbridge, the largest public housing project in the United States, and nearby Hunters Point, one of the country’s fastest-growing neighborhoods. (Carla Torres created the piece after engaging youth, residents, and park-goers through informal conversations and focus groups.)

Blue Bus was also involved in The Heart Monument (below) at Hunter’s Point South Park. In fact, Iadicicco took the sculpture on an NYC Love Tour with her large, colorful motor vehicle in December 2021.

Editor’s note: Blue Bus organized the Love Where You Live Clean-Up Festival in partnership with Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, Jacob A Riis Neighborhood Settlement, Kids Ride Club, and Kin to the Cove.

Top image: Blue Bus; middle image: Plaxall; bottom image: Rob MacKay