A vendor at the Queens Night Market (Queens Night Market/ Sharon Medina)
Sept 16, 2021 By Allie Griffin
The Queens Night Market will open for the fall season in Flushing Meadows Corona Park Saturday with a Hurricane Ida relief fundraiser.
The organizer of the popular nighttime food festival will collect donations at the door during the season opener to support Queens flood survivors who are unable to receive federal assistance.
Many residents whose homes and belongings were damaged by the flood are ineligible due to their immigration status.
Queens Night Market organizers and vendors are stepping up to help such residents.
“To us, this isn’t a political football,” John Wang, founder of the Queens Night Market, said. “It’s a humanitarian question, and we want to help our friends and neighbors in Queens insofar as we can.”
Organizers will ask market attendees for a suggested donation of $5 — which is optional — at the entrance gate Saturday. All of the money will be donated to support Ida victims.
About 30 of the nearly 70 vendors at the market will also donate either a percentage of their profits from the evening’s sales or a fixed amount to the effort.
Vendors from a wide variety of countries will be selling food and beverages — everything from Taiwanese popcorn chicken to Romanian-Hungarian chimney cake. Vendors representing more than 90 countries have shared their delicacies at the Queens Night Market since it first debuted in 2015.
Food prices are capped at $5, though some limited exceptions will be sold at $6. A full list of vendors, as well as a market map, can be found here.
Multiple performers, like DJ Lil Buddy, will also serenade market-goers throughout the night.
The event is expected to raise significant funds to help Queens residents affected by Hurricane Ida, based on past fundraising numbers.
During the summer season, Queens Night Market organizers pledged to donate 20 percent of net ticket proceeds to COVID-19 and racial equity-focused charities from its first three market nights. They raised $11,000 which was donated to the Queens-based nonprofits New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) and Love Wins Food Pantry.
The market returns this Saturday to begin its fall season after taking a break during the U.S. Open, which was also held at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The Queens Night Market will now be open every Saturday night from 6 p.m. to midnight through Oct. 30.
