A disagreement over when and where to hold the next Gates Little Italy Festival will come before the town board this evening.
Event founder Silvano Orsi says he’ll present the results of an online petition calling for the town to let the Little Italy Neighborhood Association hold its festival at Memorial Park in Gates next August 11th and 12th. Orsi says when he went to reserve the park he was denied.
Orsi suggests the association is being turned down because he’s running for town board. Supervisor Mark Assini says it’s not personal, somebody else just got to the town parks department and booked those dates first. He says there are other parks in Gates and 51 other weekends in a year and the town will be glad to work with Orsi on an alternate plan.